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THE 

HOLLOW GLOBE; 

OR 

THE WORLD'S AGITATOR 

AET> RECONCILER 

A TREATISE 

ON THE PHYSICAL CONFORMATION OP THE EARTH. 

Presented through the Organism of 

M. L. SHERMAN, M. D., 

And "Written l>y 

PROF. Wl. F. LYON. 



CHICAGO^ 







RELIGIO-PHILOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING 

HOUSE. 
S. S. JONES, PROPRIETOR. 

1871. 



-3ft* 1 , 



.<=> 



^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, In the Year 1871, 

By Iff. L. SHERMAN, and WM. F. LYON, 
In the Office of the Librarian of n oi>.gress at Washington. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction. 9 

Chapter i. — Scraps of History. - - - 19 
History works out its own development. - 33 

An event prophetic of its successor. - -27 

Condition of Europe when America was discovered. 31 
Mexican War, and Discovery of Gold in California. 37 
The Rebellion, and Death of the monster Slavery. 42 
The tide of Emigration. - - - - 47 
The necessity of more Territory. - - - 50 

Chapter ii. — The Open Polar Sea. 52 

The Kuro Siwo, or Warm Current of the Pacific. 54 
A Temperate Clime at the Polar Sea. - - 58 
Insufficient reasons offered by scientific men. 62 

Gulf Stream and its Wonders. - - - 65 

The Maelstrom, and Corals in the Northern Seas. 69 
Causes productive of the Open Polar Sea, Local. 75 

Chapter hi.— -The Igneous Theory. - - 77 

Review of arguments offered in its support. - 81 

Increase of Temperature in Artesian Wells does 

not continue. - - - - 84 

Enormous comparative quantity of Molten Lava. 87 

The formation of Coal. - - - 91 

Necessity of Negative Elements. - * 94 



IV CONTENTS. 

Impossibility of holding the enormous quantity of 
Positive Active Material within the Crust of 
the Globe. - - - - 99 

Chapter iv. — Volcanoes. - - - 101 

Remarks upon the opinions of scientific men con- 
cerning Extinct Volcanoes. - - 104 
Various Substances erupted from the Craters. Ill 
Mass of Molten Lava. ... 114 
Explosives. - - - - - 127 
The production of Coal. - 130 
Fuel necessary to produce Volcanic Fires. - 137 

Chapter v. — Earthquakes. - - 138 

Science offers no satisfactory Theory concerning 

Earthquakes. - 141 

Their extent not an evidence of Internal Fire. 144 
Earthquakes and Volcanoes produced by differ- 
ent causes. - - - 147 
Electro-Magnetism productive of Earthquakes. 153 

Chapter vi. — Material and Spiritual Forces. 161 
Inquiry concerning the Author of the World. 163 
Forces existing in the Spiritual. - - 167 

Comparative Power of different Elements. - 177 

Relation between Material and Spiritual Particles.183 
Aura — Empyria. - 188 — 191 

Positive Forces may be real Spirit Entities. 199 

Chapter vii. — Gravitation. - 207 

Gravitation a subordinate Force. - 210 

Views of Newton and Compte Examined. - 213 

No interference with Scientific Demonstrations. 220 

gravitation not productive of Tides, - - 227 



CONTENTS. V 

Fire and Gravity overloaded. - 280 

Some Important Deductions. - - - 234 

Chapter viii. — The Sun and its Influences* 236 
The Popular Theories of Light considered. 238 

Neither of the Theories would supply the extern i 

Planets with Light and Warmth. - 249 

Light and Heat produced by a vast Natural Elec- 
tro-Magnetic Battery. - - 258 
Exterior Planets not dependent upon the Sun. 260 

Chapter ix. — Inherent Powers. - - 265 
All things upon the Earth inherit all their con- 
stituent elements from the mineral. - 267 
All Animals are Locomotives, — the Earthly Pa- 
rent must be a Locomotive also. - - 272 
All Labor exhaustive of Power. - 279 

All Globes contain, in a latent condition, all the 

Powers of those in the most advanced state. 282 
The Development of Worlds. - - 286 

Method of Lighting the Interior World. - 288 

The La Place or Nebulous Theory unnatural. 302 

Chapter x. — Who are the World Builders? 307 

Vague Ideas concerning the Infinite Being. 309 

Man composed of Elements in Minerals. - 317 

Infinite Power and Wisdom not required in the 

Construction of Worlds. - - 324 

Finite Beings competent to Build Worlds. 330 
Worlds Built by the Spirit Inhabitants of the 

Planets to which they are attached. - 342 

Impropriety of placing all the labor upon the 

shoulders of one Personal Being- - 347 



vi contents, 

Chapter xi. — The Moon. - 354 

Propriety of dissolving the Material World in 

order to ascertain its constituent elements. 355 
Change of Matter from an Etherealized to a 

more Materialized condition. - 359 

Reconstruction. - 369 

Soap Bubbles. .... 375 

All New Worlds built as Satellites. - - 377 

Fire and Water incompetent to form Worlds. 382 
Method of Dissolving the Granite. - - 385 

Chaptr xii. — The Moon. - - 389 

Construction of our Moon connected with the 

Glacial Formation or the Drift Period. 391 

More Moons necessary. ... 399 

Tidal Phenomena. ... 403 

Chapter xiii. — Vision. - - - 408 

Vast Regions beyond the reach of Human Vision. 409 
Invisible Animal Organisms must possess Micro- 
scopic Vision. - 414 
Material and Spiritual Organisms. - - 423 
Intensity of Spiritual Sensuous Organs. - 426 
Thoughts and Ideas real Material Things. 432 
Men living in a World of Deception. - - 443 



PREFACE. 



This book is addressed to the reasoning intelligence 
of Humanity, — to all inquiring and reflective minds, 
everywhere upon the earth. 

We earnestly request the reader to suspend his judg- 
ment concerning the ideas advanced, until he has care- 
fully perused its pages ; when he may be better prepared 
to form his opinions, and offer his criticisms. 

We do not claim that the teachings contained in this 
work are infallible, neither are they presented in an 
authoritative manner. But, we do claim, that it contains 
more original, natural and startling ideas, which are of 
great interest to civilized humanity, and which seem to 
be entirely irrefutable, than any book of its size, that 
has made its appearance in modern times. 

We therefore commend it to the careful consideration 
of the modern thinker, being fully persuaded that its 
pages contain a large fund of thought w T hich may open 
to his mind new fields of research, thus tending to 
enlarge his understanding, and enlighten his intellect. 
We are also of the opinion that its perusal may save 
multitudes from many superstitious beliefs and shadowy 



Vlll PREFACE. 

dogmas, respecting natural phenomena, as well as theo- 
logical teachings, which have hitherto overclouded their 
minds. 

We are deeply impressed with the thought, and ven- 
ture to predict, that this book will do very much towards 
aiding humanity in their toilsome progress, from the 
darkness of mental slavery, to the broad sunshine of 
enlightened freedom, for which they have so long 
struggled, but struggled apparently in vain. 



;ntroductign. 



The central idea contained in the following work and 
the one that most of these chapters are designed to sub- 
stantiate is, that this globe is constructed in the form of 
a hollow sphere, with a shell some thirty to forty miles 
in thickness, and that the interior surface w r hich is a 
beautiful world in a more highly developed condition 
than the exterior, is accessible by a circuitous and spi- 
rally formed aperture that may be found in the unex- 
plored open Polar Sea, and this opening affords easy 
navigation, by a broad and deep channel leading from one 
surface to the other, and that the largest ships or steam- 
ers may sail or steam either way, w T ith as much facility 
as they can pass through any other winding, or somewhat 
crooked channel. And we have endeavored to show as 
clearly as possible, that the physical formation of the 
globe is such as to be perfectly compatible with an out- 
er and inner world, or two worlds instead of one, and 
it might be proper to present a brief sketch of the 
leading circumstances that have induced the production 
of this book and its presentation to the public. 

About the middle of September, 1868, the writer of 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

this work was standing at his desk in his own place of 
business, attending to some matter, when a strange gen- 
tleman made his appearance in the office, and introduced 
himself as Dr. M. L. Sherman. I told him to be seated, 
and in a few moments I would give him my attention. 
He seemed to scan me very closely, and finally among 
other things told me, You are the man that I have 
been searching after; the very man I was to find, and 
we have a large amount of business that we must trans- 
act together, but I am not fully prepared to state the 
nature of that business, for I do not seem to understand 
it myself. I replied very well, if it is to be so, I trust 
it will be satisfactory, or something to that effect, but 
his announcement did not make a vivid impression upon 
my mind, as in my experience I had heard things of a 
similar nature previously. However, the Doctor and 
myself formed an intimacy which has not been inter- 
rupted since, only by my absence of about seven 
months in the Eastern States, that occurred soon after 
our first introduction ; and I have found him to be a 
very remarkable and peculiar personage, whose day and 
hour to be widely known to the world, has probably not 
yet fully come. 

The numerous remarkable experiences of his life, 
since his connection with spiritualistic teachings and 
phenomena, would of themselves fill a volume, and arc 
by no means admissible in tin's exceedingly brief sketch 
of an eventful career, but we note as prominent among 
them, that lie was for a long time a public speaker, and 

spoke in a trance or UQCOn8cioU8 condition, to the great 

:;.• and as! onishment of those who opposed, and the 
satisfaction and encouragement of those who coincided 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

to some extent with his teachings. But in process of 
time he seemed to become so extremely radical, and an- 
nounced in public, ideas so much in advance of his 
time, and he was withal constitutionally so firm, and 
somewhat harsh and severe in his language, that, as he 
says, his speech was confounded, or he was unable to 
give utterance to his thoughts in public, and of course 
he ceased lecturing. But there seemed to be another 
field opened before him, and like Paul and Swedenborg 
and many other seers, he was called upon to make his 
personal survey of some portion of the spirit realms, 
and at several different times, has been thrown into a 
semi-trance condition becoming partially unconscious of 
his earthly surroundings, and permitted to pass through 
the most vivid experiences that he was capable of ap- 
preciating in the spiritual spheres. These different sea- 
sons of trance, in which he partook of no earthly food or 
drink except a little vinegar, were from three to twelve 
days each, making over forty days in all, and for four 
days of this time he was to all appearance dead, so much 
so that a prominent physician of the town pronounced 
him dead to all intents, with the remark that they might 
use his head for a foot-ball if he ever breathed again 
upon the earth, and it required the utmost exertion of 
the friend at whose house he lay, who was a man of 
some influence, to keep the authorities from consigning 
him to a premature grave, thus adding another to the 
numerous human sacrifices that have been made in this 
manner by people ignorant of some of nature's laws. 

Yet, notwithstanding all the learned Doctor's opinions 
and assertions, he did breathe again, and after lying 
twelve days in this comatose, apparently lifeless con- 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

dition, without food of any kind, his spirit came back 
from its wanderings once more, took possession of the 
earthly tabernacle, and he lived to write a brief ac- 
count of what he saw during his several trance condi- 
tions, and published to the world a small work of thirty- 
eight pages, entitled "My Experiences in Spiritual Phe- 
nomena." and to all appearance he seems likely to live 
for many years to come. 

This work, in consequence of its strange and radical 
ideas, was not well received, even by those minds 
who supposed they had laid off the trammels of old or- 
thodoxy, but most likely the day is not distant when 
this little book will be re-published, and properly appre- 
ciated by those who are attaining to a clearer percep- 
tion of spiritual truths and philosophy, than was en- 
joyed twenty years since by the most enlightened per- 
sons. 

Up to the 1st of January, 1870, I think we had ob- 
tained no clue whatever, to the meaning of the language 
made use of when he first entered my office, and intro- 
duced himself. About that time, however, we discov- 
ered the fact that he seeemed to go under an influence 
when I came into his presence, and he and Mrs. Sher- 
man who is remarkably mediumistic, began to See clair- 
voyantly many curious visions or symbols that were to 
us finite dark and mysterious, among which was one of 
a book, seen by him, sealed with five seals, three in 
front and one at each end. It appeared to be a largo, 
finely bound volume, and it was presented me with in- 
structions that I was to take the book, and unloose the 
seals thereof, all of which was Greek to us at the time. 
At other times large quantities of paper and pens with 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

beautiful inkstands, and writing materials generally 
were brought and presented to me ; and among many 
other things it was finally told us, that through the Doc- 
tor's mediumship we were to obtain the general ideas, 
and that I, in my room, by the aid of my own impres- 
sional powers was to mold and fashion and weave them 
into a book, to be entitled the World's Agitator and 
Reconciler, and in due time they began through the 
Doctor's organism to teach concerning the nature of 
the book and its contents. However, the teachings 
were of such a character that we were very slow to re- 
ceive them, and, in fact, it was a very tedious process 
upon their part to make us understand and comprehend 
their ideas. They came to us in such broken fragments, 
and apparently dark and mystified manner, but they 
urged me to commence writing, for it was no matter 
where and how I commenced, they would find a place in 
the book for my productions, and so I began about the 
middle of March, and was urged as nearly as may be, 
to finish the book by the first of November. 

The whole affair has been extremely novel to us all, 
and I doubt not these pages may appear somewhat nov- 
el to the reader, and if he will go through them with 
some little attention, he may arise from their perusal 
quite well convinced, at least, that old things are passing 
away, and that many things are becoming new. I have 
written these pages in an entirely normal condition, and 
perfectly unconscious of any influence, only there were 
times when I could not write a sentence, and felt very 
much averse to doing anything in connection with the 
book, and would get up and leave the room, almost in- 
voluntarily. At other times I would write with ease, 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

quite generally commencing a sentence without know- 
ing how it was to terminate. I have copied and to a 
certain extent, modified about half of the manuscript 
that was first written ; the remainder is just about as it 
was presented. The different chapters or subjects, are 
by no means arranged as they were written, as some 
were partly finished, and laid aside, as there were times 
when I could write upon one subject and not upon an- 
other. 

They informed us at the commencement that the 
teachings would come through the Doctor's organism in 
an indirect manner, or in chips as they termed them, 
but they would be enabled by that mode of procedure 
to transfer the ideas to my organism, and thus enable me 
in my own study, to weave them into the web which 
they wished to produce to the world, at this period in 
its history. They remarked, the time had arrived to 
make these revealments, and they, (as they termed 
themselves the delegation) had searched the nations for 
the Key or Keys that would unlock to the world,the pro- 
found secrets contained in this book, and they had 
found the Keys hidden away in our organisms, and had 
watched our outgoings, and incomings, and made use of 
the means that would bring us together at the fixed time 
for the accomplishment of this purpose. I do not claim 
any large amount of credit for the authorship of this 
work, though much of the time it has been quite a se- 
vere tax upon all the mental energies that I possessed, 
and although the prominent ideas wore given to us, yet 
they seem to have passed through my organismin such 
a manner that it is quite difficult for me to determine 
from whence they came, and how I have been able to 
present them in this form 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

We learned in process of time that the five seals of 
the book presented in the early stage of these proceed- 
ings, had allusion to prominent ideas, or facts concern- 
ing the physical globe upon which we dwell, and its va- 
rious appertainings. 

The first seal is supposed to allude to the great fact 
that this globe is a hollow or spherical shell with an in- 
terior as well as an exterior surface, and that it contains 
an inner concave as well as outer convex world, and 
that the inner is accessible by an extensive spirally 
formed aperture, provided with a deep and commodious 
channel suited to the purposes of navigation for the 
largest vessels that float, and that this aperture may be 
found in the unexplored open Polar Sea. 

The opening of the second seal, is supposed to reveal 
the fact that this globe is a mechanical structure, in 
which is introduced the highest principles of the art, 
and that it is consequently, built by mechanics who are 
well versed in all the acquirements necessary to produce 
such a structure, and that to be built in accordance with 
correct principles, it must be formed from the least 
amount of material compatible with the needed strength, 
and hence it must be in the form of a shell, with an out- 
er and an inner surface. 

The third seal seems to open to our view, the fact that 
the mechanics who are competent to build a world, must 
have acquired their knowledge like all other intelligent 
beings, by experience and observation, and hence they 
must have necessarily passed through all possible con- 
ditions below them, in order to have attained the need- 
ed acquirements, or the wisdom and power that would 
be absolutely essential in the construction of a world; 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

and further, that worlds are not created from nothing, 
by a self constituted infinite being who has never 
passed through all this entire routine of experience, but 
sprang into existence without law or cause, with wisdom 
and power sufficient to produce all things from nothing 
by his own fiat, as the human mind is entirely incapa- 
ble of conceiving the existence of any such being, with- 
in the boundaries of universal nature. 

The fourth seal w T ould seem to disclose to our view, a 
number of facts concerning the inherent powers con- 
tained in our globe, by which it performs its axial and 
orbital movements, and manufactures its interior light 
and warmth, and is destined to unfold to that higher 
and more independent and matured condition, that will 
ultimately enable it to take its proper place as a sun in 
the vast firmament. 

And the fifth seal has allusion to human vision, and 
will be fully explained by a perusal of the chapter upon 
that subject. 

When I rather reluctantly consented to commence 
the ostensible authorship of this book, I had determined 
that nothing should be introduced into its pages that 
would conflict in any manner with well settled scientific 
opinions, and I supposed I should spend a large portion 
of the summer, in the study of scientific Avorks ; but we 
were constantly admonished, that with regard to most 
of the subjects upon which I was to write, science was 
entirely at fault, and her votaries were wandering in a 
of darkness, and that all 1 needed was a general 
of their opinions upon matters that would be 
brought to Light, so we could demolish them more eifect- 
ually. That if scientific men had already arrived at 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

truth concerning all these matters, it would be quite 
unnecessary to say more, as no one could be benefited 
by a vain repetition of what was already written, and 
well understood; and instead of being particularly en- 
lightened by scientific theories already established, I have 
been compelled to adopt many directly in conflict with 
those entertained by the most eminent men of the pres- 
ent day. I have been also impelled to introduce an 
array of argument in support of the new ideas and the- 
ories, entirely novel to myself, but yet, arguments that 
in most cases seem to be astonishingly conclusive, and 
that will no doubt, stand the test of the most critical 
examination; and we have every reason to believe view- 
ing the matter from our standpoint, that these pages will 
prove of no little interest to the public generally. 

It will not be very surprising, if in treating upon 
subjects of such vast magnitude as those introduced in- 
to this work, that an author so unprepared as myself, by 
an intimate acquaintance with the scientific works de- 
signed to throw light upon these matters, should fre- 
quently meet with almost insurmountable obstacles and 
impediments, that would seem to tower mountain high 
before him, and thus not only obscure his vision, but ob- 
struct his pathway ; but strange to say in every instance 
of this character, which have not been infrequent dur- 
ing the progress of this work, all the obstructions and 
difficulties have not only been removed, but they have 
invariably strengthened our arguments, and been but 
stepping stones upon which we could stand, and if pos- 
sible take a broader and more extensive survey of the 
realms of nature, beholding more clearly and vividly, 
those harmonies and beauties that present themselves 
everywhere in the universe. 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

The book itself presents upon its face but few charac- 
teristics that came within the reach of my interior vis- 
ion, when I consented to commence its authorship. In 
fact, I had but little idea concerning the matter, and it 
has been unfolded to my view during its progress, part- 
ly by the teachings given through the Doctor, and part- 
ly by the vivid impressions that seemed to be made upon 
my own organism, and I cannot exactly determine how 
far the work had progressed, when I became fully 
convinced that the views promulgated were substan- 
tial facts, and fully in accordance with the established 
principles existing in the universal realms, but I at 
length succumbed to what appeared to be my own rea- 
soning, as the arguments introduced were beyond my 
reach, and demolished my preconceived theories, and I 
trust many individuals who carefully peruse this volume, 
will pass through a similar experience. 

I seem to be deeply impressed with the idea that 
many of the thoughts that are briefly presented in this 
work, will be seized upon in the future by other minds 
and elaborated, so as to become of great utility to the 
human race, and I must be permitted to entertain the 
thought that the elucidation contained therein, concern- 
ing the great positive and negative forces existing in na- 
ture, will ultimate in their final introduction, and gen- 
eral application to mechanical purposes. 

Wm. F. Lyon. 

Sacramento, Nov. 1, 1870. 



THE WORLD'S AGITATOR 

AND 

RECONCILER. 



CHAPTER I. 

SOME SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

If with an intelligent eye, we glance back through 
the pages of recorded history, we shall find, we trust, 
that every event noted has occurred in its exact order, 
and at its proper time and place, so that the known rec- 
ord of human transactions, is somewhat prophetic, beau- 
tifully progressive, and singularly symmetrical, in all 
its proportions. Each event has transpired at its fixed 
time, in its regular succession, it could not have possi- 
bly occurred sooner, neither could it have been longer 
delayed, as, in the advancement of human intelligence, 
and in the accumulations of human experience, events 
must necessarily take place in accordance with man's 
condition at the period of their occurrence, and we see 
it could not be otherwise ; for it would be impossible for 
human society to enact, in an ignorant and semi-barb- 
arous condition, what would be very natural in a more 
advanced and civilized period of its history. 

And thus we find the earlier history of the human 



20 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

race is in perfect accordance with the more undevel- 
oped conditions that existed at the period when the event 
occurred, and the records of all succeeding ages have 
kept even pace with the onward march of human ad- 
vancement. The people who lived even a hundred 
years since, could not by any possibility, have enacted 
the most commonplace events that are occurring every 
where in civilized society, at the present, simply be- 
cause they had not the means, and the appliances that 
would produce any of the ordinary occurrences of to- 
day, that we witness with no apparent or appreciative 
interest, because of our familiarity with them as every 
day transactions. 

"We now upon the Pacific coast, scarcely walk a block 
to witness the advent of a large party of distinguished 
gentlemen, who left their homes in Boston, over three 
thousand miles away, a week since, and have traveled 
across the entire continent, at that rapid rate, faring 
sumptuously the whole distance, being boarded and 
bedded and dined and wined, in flying palaces that are 
fitted up and most elaborately adorned, with a luxurious 
magnificence unknown to our wealthiest ancestors in 
their private residences, a century since; while only a 
few short years in the past, the residents here would 
have been deeply interested in the approach of an ox 
wagon,anda small party of emigrants. And thus we find 
to-day, the schoolboy familiar with facts, principles and 
phenomena, unknown to the college professor of a hand- 
red Years ago. Formerly, history lagged and i raveled 
Bluggishly in lumbering vehicles, upon the common 
highway, or it waited for the winds t<> fill the sails of 
it< diminutive, ill shapen crafte,before it could move on- 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 21 

ward in its journey. Now it rushes forward with all 
the accelerated speed of the locomotive, and with the 
still increased celerity of the electric telegraph, making 
half the circuit of the globe while the sun is washing 
his face, preparatory to his day's journey, or without 
waiting for winds or tides, it moves on in the accom- 
plishment of its high destinies, with certainty in the 
measured tread of the ocean steamer. 

Formerly, history seemed to be working out all its 
problems with great moderation, by the unaided hands 
of men and women ; it brought into requisition the sim- 
plest instruments to aid in its handicraft, and performed 
comparatively little, but now it ca^ls to its assistance, 
the most wonderfully complicated machinery, set in mo- 
tion by powers unknown as such to our ancestors, and 
by the aid of steam and electricity, it may now rattle 
off a volume in the same time that in ages past, by their 
simple appliances, it could scarce produce a single page. 

As we have said, the history of each succeeding age, 
must have had a perfect correspondence with the condi- 
tion of the age to which it belonged, and must comport 
exactly with the experience and advancement of the 
people of that particular era, in the varied branches of 
human knowledge; for instance, the written particulars 
of a battle, occurring previous to the knowledge and 
use of gunpowder, must have been a very different af- 
fair, in all its details, to a similar combat at the present 
time, when columbiads and Henry rifles, and all the nu- 
merous improved destructive weapons are brought to 
bear by the belligerents, in their efforts to destroy each 
other. 

If old Homer could have provided his heroes with 



22 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

some of our modern implements of warfare, they might 
have planted their mortars and Parrot guns, and bom- 
barded, and battered down the walls of ancient Troy in 
a single week, taken the fair Helen, and returned to 
Greece, with victory perched upon their banners, by the 
next steamer, instead of remaining there for ten long 
years, and wasting so much time in hand to hand en- 
counters, and the whole history could have been given 
in the daily papers the next morning after the steamer 
arrived. But then a great amount of fine poetry, 
would have subsided into a small matter of fact, so we 
see the whole history was admirably adapted to the age 
that gave it birth, and the minds of our youth are 
charmed and developed to a certain extent, by a perus- 
al of the exhilerating poetic lines of the famous Grec- 
ian bard, all about a contest that would have been 
decided at the present period, in a few days or weeks 
at most. 

And we find that the religious history of the different 
ages is marked with the same great disparity, for cer- 
tainly no one can deny, but it gradually changed its 
forms, among the different people of the earth, as they 
have advanced in experience and knowledge, till at the 
present day, we may behold numerous religious organi- 
zations so widely different from each other, and so ex- 
tremely at variance with those of a past age, that we can 
scarcely recognize the fact that their views and devo- 
tional exercises, are prompted by the same elements as 
those which existed in the natural and spiritual organ- 
isms of their ancestors. Nevertheless, we are compelled 
to acknowledge that such is the ease, and we must ad- 
mit that the same peculiar powers ami faculties of mind 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 23 

that were found in the Egyptian, which prompted him 
under his conditions, to establish a priesthood whose 
duties were, to offer certain sacrifices to those beings 
who were the representatives of their highest concep- 
tions of God, or supreme power and wisdom, are the 
same precisely, that are found in a more advanced con- 
dition, in the people of New England who adopt such 
different modes of worship, and are supposed upon their 
set days, to listen to the most advanced spiritual 
thoughts of that highly cultivated class of divines, who 
officiate as priests, in accordance with the most ap- 
proved forms and ceremonies of this enlightened age. 
And no doubt, the Egyptian was as sincere, devout, 
earnest, and worshipful, as is the more cultivated and 
refined citizen of New England, who is a constant and 
devout attendant upon one of the popular churches of 
the present day ; and though his form of religious wor- 
ship would be illy adapted to us in our condition, yet it 
served him in his condition, far better, and doubtless 
was quite as acceptable to the powers to whom it was 
addressed. 

The same disparity must obtain in the history of the 
different ages of men, in reference to their scientific, 
mechanical and agricultural attainments. One discov- 
ery in any one of these departments, must have pre- 
ceded another, in regular order, as it was necessary 
that men should be familiarized with the more simple, 
before they could comprehend the more complex, and 
the one only made way for the other, and was absolutely 
prophetic of what would follow\ So we perceive that 
one page of history has prepared the way, and made it 
possible for the next page to occur ; for had there been 



24 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

no infancy, there could have been no growth and conse- 
quent maturity, so that history has passed througn all 
these various changes ; one event depending entirely for 
its occurrence, upon the one that preceded, and thus on 
down through all its recorded pages, each occurring in 
its own appointed time, in accordance with fixed, un- 
changeable laws. We must conclude that all has been 
foreseen by some exalted minds, and that no written 
page has occurred in a hap-hazard manner, but all was 
and is, in accordance with the best designs of that pow- 
er and wisdom that guides and directs all, for the high- 
est purposes and best good of all the parties concerned. 
This may be called fatality or predestination, or special 
or general Providence, or what you will, but we consid- 
er it simply an acknowledgment, that there w T as power 
and wisdom in existence before the foundations of the 
world were established, entirely adequate to compre- 
hend all that was in any way connected with the grand 
undertaking, from its inception to its ultimate comple- 
tion, and that in all its minutiae, it w r as designed to work 
out the highest possible purposes, and that consequently 
all of human history, must have been taken into ac- 
count, and that these events have been, and are tran- 
spiring in accordance with the direction of the powers 
that are delegated to watch over and direct the affairs 
and destinies of humanity. 

Mankind have been placed hereunder certain condi- 
tions, and endowed with certain faculties, and peculiar or- 
ganized mentalities, and this fact has been followed by the 
events of history. They have been ushered into life, 
and up<»ii the Stage of net ion, and rushed off upon the 
other side, without even being consulted in regard to 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 25 

the conditions and surroundings in which they were to be 
placed, the peculiar faculties and organisms they were 
to inherit, or influences that should be brought to bear 
upon thern ; and under these peculiar circumstances, can 
it be supposed that individuals have exerted a great 
amount of uncontrolled power, in producing the history 
of the world? It must be conceded, that we as indi- 
viduals can do little else, than to watch the progress of 
events, as humanity passes on from its lower to its high- 
er and more advanced conditions , impelled forward by 
the varied influences by which we are surrounded, and 
which exist in our interior natures. 

Men may conceive that they occupy a high posi- 
tion in the world, and that they individually are wield- 
ing a powerful influence in their spheres, but if our eye 
could be opened to a discernment of that invisible pow- 
er that dominates behind the scenes, we should discover 
that they are only agents, instead of principals in the 
great work they appear to accomplish. 

There can be no doubt, but the same general ele- 
ments existed in the organizations of our ancestors, as 
are found in our own, yet with what very different re- 
results, simply because they had not enjoyed the same 
length of time for experience and development. Our 
ancestors had not passed through all these multitudinous 
changes — hence their hopes, aspirations and yearnings, 
their joys and their sorrows, were all of a different 
character. People doubtless in all ages have had, as 
they do now, hopes and aspirations that reached out 
somewhat beyond their possible attainments, so that 
those of one age have overleaped the bounds of their own 
day and generation, and only become the realizations 



26 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

of their successors : — thus coming events cast their shad- 
ows before, from age to age; and the ideal yearnings of 
the one reaches over into the actual experience of the 
succeeding. — and doubtless the same order and harmony 
will continue in the experiences of humanity during all 
the ages to come. 

Thus the laws of progressive development are carried 
forward, the thinking men of one age, evolve reforms, 
or devise schemes, for the general improvement of hu- 
manity, and cherish some ideal that can only be real- 
ized by a later generation, and thus it has been said, 
and doubtless very truly, that the strong desire upon 
the part of a people, or perhaps an individual, for the 
attainment of a certain object, proves most conclusively, 
that the object is attainable, or it may be prophetic, and 
a sure precursor of its realization. For instance, when 
the slave population of the South sent up their united 
cry for freedom, and were joined by the fervent peti- 
tions of all liberty loving souls, everywhere, it was pro- 
phetic and substantial evidence, that their cry would be 
heard, and that means would be instituted, by which 
their freedom would be obtained, not that some great 
infinite power, who had carelessly left them in bondage 
for so long a time, would have his attention called to 
the subject by their importunities, and be moved to pity 
and extend his clemency toward them, in procuring 
their release; but that in the order of events the time 
had arrived. That the spontaneous yearnings engen- 
dered in their souls, waa a premonition, and silently 
yed the information, that their release from bond- 
age must follow as a natural result, not because of their 
strong anxiety and yearnings, but because the time for 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 27 

that event had transpired, and all nature that had been 
groaning and travailing in pain until then, demanded 
its just fulfillment; and the great movement in the 
North, and the excessive cries and groans of the slave, 
were only prophetic of such a consummation, thus the 
multifarious events connected with this great revolution, 
transpired in their regular order, and no amount of pe- 
titions could have hastened them a single day. 

If we turn our attention back to the history connect- 
ed with the discovery, settlement, and advancing pro- 
gress of our own country, we shall ascertain that events 
have been singularly prophetic of their successors, in 
all their recorded pages, and that they have shaped 
themselves in accordance with the absolute necessities of 
an advancing civilization, very naturally, to meet the 
demands of the age, and we shall also discover evidence 
of an undoubted character, proving conclusively, that 
somewhere, very high intelligence was brought to bear, 
and stood at the helm, guiding the ship, molding and 
fashioning this wondrous succession of important events, 
that have ultimated in the building up of a great and 
powerful nation; with the freest and most liberalized 
government known upon earth. 

It will be remembered that when Catholic supremacy 
and intolerance, over-ran all Western Europe, that an 
obscure young sailor was deeply impressed with an idea 
that finally resulted in the discovery of what they termed 
a new world, because. they supposed then as now, 
their previous knowledge embraced all of the world, 
that could possibly exist. The idea to them that 
there was any more, beyond the bounds of their re- 
search, was quite as ridiculous, as it is to-day, to sup- 



28 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

pose that there is a vast interior world, already devel- 
oped, and elaborately and beautifully fitted up, in all 
its appointments, and only waiting to be discovered, and 
occupied, the same as this new world waited till the set 
time had fully come, and the individual appeared, who 
had within his organism, the key that should unlock the 
mystery, and make known the astounding fact that a 
grand continent was theirs, to bequeath to their poster- 
ity, as an inheritance forever. As Columbus an- 
nounced to the people, and authorities of old Spain, 
that across the seas to the west, was something of vast 
importance to them, and worthy of being searched out 
by a national expedition, so we announce to-day, to the 
people of the self-same country he discovered, nearly 
four hundred years later, that to the North- West of 
here, within the unexplored Polar circle, may be found 
a gateway that will lead the astonished navigator to a 
world far more magnificent, and of more value to the 
generations to come, than Columbus ever realized, or of 
which he ever dreamed in his most enthusiastic contem- 
plations and visionary moments, and we feel some confi- 
dence, if the reader will follow us through these pages, 
with patience, we will convince him that such not only 
may he possible, but that it is, and must necessarily be 
a living fact, that will be demonstrated with far more 
ease, than the American continent was discovered by 
the famed navigator of the fifteenth century. 

We .shall not probably be exposed to any more rid- 
icule than was Columbus, and many other individuals 
who have had the daring to presenl a comparatively 
new idea to the world, and to labor assiduously in its 
vindication and support, and as our great prototype did 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 29 

not succumb to ridicule, nor yield to the difficulties and 
various impediments that were thrown in his pathway, 
quite likely we may be encouraged to follow his exam- 
ple, for in the present more advanced state of scientific 
research, it is no greater stretch of the imagination to sup- 
pose there may be an interior surface to the shell that 
is quite generally admitted to exist, as the exterior por- 
tion of the globe, than it then was, to suppose there was 
a vast continent to be found away in the unexplored re- 
gions of the western waters, for it was universally con- 
sidered that the pillars of Hercules were the ultima 
thule, and that there was nothing of great importance 
to be found beyond. 

But not so thought Columbus, and he most obstinate- 
ly persisted in presenting his ideas, first to his own cir- 
cle of friends, and then to the public; and to different 
courts, year after year, for what appeared to him, doubt- 
less an interminable length of time, before he could ob- 
tain the amount necessary to fit out the feeble expedi- 
tion, that would at this day be considered entirely inad- 
equate to cross the ocean. 

And let us contemplate for a moment, the doubts and 
wavering uncertainties, and then the unexpected streams 
of light that penetrated the mass of darkness that 
clouded the whole subject, as viewed from his own stand- 
point, the brilliant hopes that led him onwards, and then 
those dismal fears that it might be all a misconception, 
some visionary hallucination of the brain, and then the 
discouragements of friends who expressed a warm inter- 
est in his welfare. What vivid, strange and complicated 
experiences must this energetic, persevering young man 
have passed through, while pursuing his profitless jour- 



30 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

nies from city to city, and from court to court, present- 
ing his grand idea to unappreciative listeners, or per- 
haps to those sympathizing friends who were entirely un- 
able to aid in a practical demonstration of his great 
theory ? 

It is very doubtful whether Columbus could, during 
this entire period of struggle, absolutely define his own 
position in relation to the great project he had in view; 
and it is probable that from the time the first germs of 
thought were projected upon his mentality, up to the 
hour of the discovery of San Salvador, he could not 
have said he possessed entire, absolute, unwavering con- 
fidence in the undertaking; and thus it is, that men who 
are capable of the conception of a great thought, or 
rather whose organisms are susceptible to the impres- 
sion of expanded ideas, are necessarily perplexed with 
shadows and uncertainties, and sometimes darkness; 
until by almost superhuman energies, they are enabled 
to materialize, and demonstrate their highest thought, 
thus the great discoverer, though he could not absolute- 
ly say his impressions were true, yet his convictions were 
of that permanent character, that impelled him to de- 
vote the best energies of his enlarged soul, for so many 
years in promoting the one great object of his life. 

Convictions less firm would not have enabled him to 
consecrate all his powers of mind, and press them into 
the work, and urged him onward -until he overcame all 
the impediments, and obstacles that beset his pathway, 
and impeded his progress. The unwavering con- 
victions he experienced, doubtless were the prophecy 
that a great event was about to transpire, that would be 
of trasl importance to the human race, and the set time 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 31 

had arrived in human history, for that grandly illuminat- 
ed page to be recorded ; and that the individual had 
been found with the ability and daring requisite to make 
the sublime record. 

And if we take the time to study the condition of 
Western Europe at that period, we may readily discov- 
er that the necessities of the then civilized world, de- 
manded that the existence of the American continent, 
with its varied resources, and capabilities, should be 
made known to humanity, at the time of its discovery, 
and thus we see that an obscure vouns; man, an Individ- 
ual from the ranks of comparative poverty, but endowed 
by the peculiarly requisite qualities of mind, was raised 
up, impelled to go forward, and prosecute the enterprise, 
until his assiduous labors were crowned with such dis- 
tinguished success. It will be remembered that in the 
j'ear 1492, Martin Luther, he who was destined to occu- 
py such a conspicuous position in revolutionizing the re- 
ligious world, in unsettling old established opinions, and 
consequently introducing discord and inharmonious 
elements that must in the future, result in violent perse- 
cutions, was a boy nine years of age, and that Ulrich 
Zwingle, the shepherd boy of the Alps, but subsequent- 
ly the distinguished Swiss reformer, was eight years of 
age, so that the great reformation of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, was already in embryo, that finally resulted in 
such 'unhappy consequences to untold thousands of in- 
dividual dissenters, and protesters against the dogmas 
of the established church; and how absolutely necessary 
that an asylum should be found, where the victims of 
this terrible intolerance and persecution, could find a 
refuge from their enemies, with the needed peace and 



32 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

security, and where they might be permitted to worship 
in their own manner, and under their own vines, and in 
accordance with their own conscientious opinions, and 
beliefs. And how readily large numbers of these suf- 
ferers, availed themselves of this privilege, and left 
the homes of their childhood, their altar-fires, and all 
their cherished attachments, and came to this new 
world, to swell that patriot band that were laying there, 
the foundations of what should some day, become a 
great and powerful nationality, that would be composed 
of the peculiar elements best calculated to promote the 
growth of a more liberalized government, as well as 
more exalted opinions, concerning man's inherent 
rights to think and act for himself. And in order to es- 
tablish new institutions, then, as well as now, it was 
absolutely necessary, that new territory should be found, 
upon which they might be established, that new societies 
might be reared out of a combination of elements, 
that would naturally gravitate to the new and unsettled 
terrritory. And strange to say the condition of the 
European states, has from that period been such, that 
very large numbers were induced to flee, and seek this 
asylum where they could enjoy that liberty they so 
much craved, but could not find at home. 

It was certainly much easier to build up and establish 
new forms of thought, and carry out more advanced 
ideas, where all was new and unformed, than in the old 
world, where all their ideas and opinions were running 
in deep grooves, worn down by time, customs and usage, 
and where aristocratic and pecuniary interests were min- 
gled with the civil and religious institutions of their fa- 
thers. And the long succession of events that culmi- 



SCEAPS OF HISTOKY. 66 

nated in the emancipation of the people from the in- 
justice and oppression of British domination, is no less 
singularly prophetic, all tending towards a great con- 
summation of immense import to the whole civilized 
race. And now it became a necessity, that the enfran- 
chised minds of the liberty-loving subjects of the differ- 
ent nations of Europe, after they had found this asy- 
lum, should also establish a government of their own, 
based upon individual rights, under which they might 
enjoy all those privileges, both civil and religious, they 
had so clearly inherited from the great supreme power 
that sways the destinies of this universe, and that they 
and their posterity should assist in building up and giv- 
ing permanence to those free institutions, that might 
eventually and for all time to come, exert a wide spread, 
liberalizing influence over all the nations of the earth. 

It would give us great pleasure if we could pause here, 
and pay some slight tribute of respect to the long cat- 
alogue of names that appeared conspicuously at this s-tage 
of American history, who w r ere ready to gird on their 
swords, and go out to battle valiantly for the liber- 
ties of their chosen country, in its hour of deepest trial; 
but perhaps the halo of glory that does, and will sur- 
round until the latest generations, the memories of such 
men as Washington, Jefferson, and the much abused and 
vilified Thomas Paine, and a host of others that figured 
in those perilous times, might receive no additional lustre 
from the pens of obscure individuals, but such as we 
have, we offer, and only wish the incense proceeding 
from hearts th at are grateful for the civil and religious 
rights of this great people, may be wafted to the spirit 
abodes of every individual, high and low, who took part 



34 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

in the great struggle that purchased the liberties we 
now so abundantly enjoy. 

And, now, -we need notice but few of the many re- 
markable occurrences in American history, to show most 
conclusively, that they are all tending towards, and are 
singularly prophetic of a final culmination still more mar- 
velous than the discovery and settlement of this continent, 
and its subsequent startling historic events, that have 
really been productive of a progressive influence in the 
European States, and have caused many monarchs to 
tremble upon their thrones. 

The American people, being direct descendants frpm 
the different states of Western Europe, whose fathers 
fled from religious intolerance and political oppression, 
the natural result of long established institutions upon 
the continent, marrying and inter-marrying with each 
other, must, of course, possess peculiar elements and na- 
tional characteristics entirely distinct from their breth- 
ren at home; in fact, they became a people, sui generis, 
with elemental qualities that no nation upon the face of 
the earth had ever before exhibited ; an outgrowth of that 
conglomeration produced by the mingling of so many 
European nationalities, under such peculiar circum- 
stances. Inheriting from their ancestry that energy 
and freedom of thought, that impelled them to leave 
their paternal home, and seek a refuge in a new country 
and many times in an uncultivated wilderness, they have 
exhibited those remarkable energies from the earlier set- 
tlement to the present, in subduing the wilderness, and 
making almost the entire country subservient in supply- 
ing the necessities of an advanced civilization. We 
remark with what rapidity the population of the Old 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 35 

Thirteen overleaped their limited boundaries,and surged 
onward until it spread over the larger portion of the 
valley of the Mississippi. And subsequent events have 
taught us, that it was of the utmost importance, that 
our people should occupy and cultivate, as early as pos- 
sible, this extensive granary of the American continent 
in order to be prepared for circumstances that must oc~ 
cur in our progressive course. For although our peo- 
ple had experienced unexampled prosperity, with trifling 
exceptions, since the achievment of their independence; 
yet they had fostered an unfortunate relic of a most 
barbarous age, in their own body politic, that was sure 
to ultimate in a fierce conflict, as it had been a bone of 
contention for many years, and each year the strife 
waxed hotter and hotter. And we are compelled to no- 
tice here as briefly as possible, this darkest feature in 
American history,that has been for so many long years, 
a plague spot and malignant curse upon this goverment, 
and that finally culminated in the shedding of such vast 
torrents of blood. 

Less than forty years since, the idea was seized upon 
by certain persons, as having been announced in our 
Declaration of rights, that all u Men were born free and 
equal, and possessed certain inalienable rights," and 
they conceived this idea meant something; and that it 
ought to be enjoyed by all without regard to race, color, 
or condition ; they made bold to express this idea, both 
in season and out of season, and became what was then 
termed abolitionists, for it must be remembered, that 
there were then nearly 3,000,000 of colored people in 
the Southern States, enduring the most abject bondage. 
Their masters of course, took the alarm, and hence the 



36 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 



doctrine of State's rights was promulgated, as far as 
slavery extended, most industriously, from the press, 
the rostrum, and the pulpit, and became the central 
idea in the political, if not the religious creed of the en- 
tire Southern people. These two opposing elements, 
at first no larger than a man's hand, above the horizon, 
gave no great alarm to any party; but after no incon- 
siderable wrangling upon the part of private and pub- 
lic men, the set time seemed to arrive when this contest 
should assume larger and still larger proportions, and fi- 
nally permeate and interweave itself into the entire political 
fabric of the Government ; so that it became intimately 
connected with almost every important measure that ag- 
itated the public mind, and received the attention of our 
National Legislature. Not a State could be admitted in- 
to the sisterhood, but these opposing partizans were ter- 
ribly excited, until it was temporarily supposed that the 
increasing fires of this volcano, were quenched by the 
waters of the various Compromises. But in process of 
time, and during this controversy, the entire country 
was startled by the announcement that there was a war 
in progress between the United States and Mexico, — 
and although it was very difficult, at the time, to ascer- 
tain by what authority, we were involved in a war with 
a neighboring nation, nevertheless it proved to be a very 
serious fact, and the whole people were suddenly awak- 
ened to the knowledge that General Taylor had abso- 
lutely opened his batteries, beseiged and taken Matamo- 
raSj and tliat the war was in actual progress, whether 
justly or unjustly, was the great question now to be de- 
bated, and if possible determined. And that question 
was agitated and discussed in the halls of Congress, in 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 37 

the Legislatures of the different States, and extensively 
among the masses of the people, in their town halls, in 
their debating clubs, in their places of business, and 
upon the streets, with great zeal, and many times vio- 
lent acrimony. Parties arraying themselves generally 
in accordance with their political proclivities, the Dem- 
ocratic party in consequence of their more intimate re- 
lationship with the political influence of the South, and 
having in their possession the administration at the time, 
favored the war, while the Whigs generally united with 
the Anti-Slavery party, in very strong opposition, as 
they conceived they discovered a great amount of injus- 
tice mingled in the transaction, and were fully impressed 
that the grand central idea of the instigators and pro- 
moters of this war, was an intention to extend the area 
of African slavery. 

This fierce contest continued with unabated warmth, 
until our so-called Mexican invasion, like all other wars, 
came to its end, and terminated in the triumph of the 
arms of our Government; and those inferior races were 
compelled to acknowledge themselves conquered by a 
superior people, and doubtless were happy to enter into 
very favorable treaty stipulations with their conquerors. 

Our Government with great magnanimity, agreed to 
defray their own war expenses, granting entire immuni- 
ty for damages sustained, relinquish a large debt which 
was held against them, and then pay them $15,000,000 
besides, and only receive in exchange for all these gra- 
tuities, a simple quit-claim for the disputed part of Tex- 
as which we already heM, the territory of New Mexico, 
and California, all of which was at that time supposed 

by the masses, to be about worthless ; and more partic- 
4 



38 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 



ularly, by those who opposed the war, and that party 
fairly howled over such a reckles and extravagant waste 
of the toil-earned money of the people, that had been 
gathered into the coffers of the Government. 

But lo ! about this time a change came over the spir- 
it of the dream, — and very rich mines of gold were dis- 
covered in California, upon the newly acquired territo- 
ry, and busy rumor heralded this exciting news back to 
the Atlantic States, and the restless, uneasy element 
that has ever existed in the descendants of the Anglo- 
Saxon race, began to be aroused, and very soon exhib- 
ited itself with redoubled energy. The great thorough- 
fares both by sea and land, were in a short period, 
crowded by adventurous spirits who were bound to this 
new found land of golden promise, but in very many in- 
stances, disappointed hopes, and from that day tp the 
present, we have never heard an American citizen, of 
any party, breathe forth a single lisp, in relation to the 
horrible injustice of the Mexican war, or hint that our 
people made an unprofitable bargain, when we acquired 
the purchased possession of the great territory, reaching 
from the Gulf of Mexico to this Pacific coast, and con- 
taining within its borders, mineral and agricultural re- 
sources, scarcely equalled upon the face of the globe. 

However much any of us might have been opposed 
to those passages, in our history when they occurred, 
we are compelled to admit they grew out of the neces- 
sities of the case, and evidently carry upon their face, 
the deep marks of design, and that the parties that 
were invested with power at the time, were only agents 
in the performance of their parts in those several tran- 
sactions, and every intelligent man is also driven to the 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 39 

admission, that the exigencies of the case, and the pe- 
culiar condition of our people at that period, and since 
that day, absolutely demanded that the key should be 
found at that fixed time, which would unlock this vast 
treasure house of mineral wealth for the benefit of the 
American people, in order to aid our Government to 
march on, in the fulfillment of her great destinies. 

Who, now, that looks backward upon the line of this 
strange concatenation of human events, and examines 
the prominent occurrences that have culminated in the 
possession and development of the untold resources of 
the Pacific slope, but must acknowledge that each suc- 
cessive link in this connected chain of history, was but a 
prophecy of the one that would follow, and that all 
are tending toward some other grand consummation in 
the future. 

But while this part of the historical problem was work- 
ing out, and arriving at a partial solution that has thus 
far resulted in placing a million of enterprising and 
energetic inhabitants west of the Rocky Mountains, 
and in part developing the immense resources of this 
golden country, time was effecting its wonderful 
changes upon our Atlantic borders, and in the older 
States, for, notwithstanding all the agreements and 
compromises that had been entered into by our states- 
men, and all the efforts that had been made by our pa- 
triotic citizens, to stay or avert any serious difficulty 
that might arise from this slavery question, yet the con- 
test waxed warmer and still warmer; although the 
party of the North had consented to let it remain in- 
tact where it was already established, they strenuously 
opposed its extension into new territory. It was also 



40 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

discovered that North of Mason and Dixon's line, the 
free institutions that prevailed "were more congenial with 
the masses of emigrants that were continuously arriving 
from Europe, and that the large portion of the acces- 
sions to our population, were attracted thither; and, again, 
it was ascertained, that freedom was more conducive to 
growth and expansion, because it called into active ex- 
ercise, the energies and enterprise of the great mass of 
the population, placing each man upon an equality. 
Every individual had a personal interest in the well-be- 
ing and advancement of the whole, and hence, it was 
found, that the Northern States were rapidly outstrip- 
ing, and gaining upon the Southern, both in wealth and 
population. This fact was of course, a great cause 
of distrust, and fear upon the part of the people of the 
South, for they discovered very readily, if that state of 
things should continue any great length of time, their 
cherished institution would only occupy a corner of the 
territory, and ultimately be swept out of existence, by 
the overwhelming numbers and power of its opponents. 

Hence, it became a necessity, if they wished to pre- 
serve slavery as an inheritance for their children, and 
to perpetuate the institution for the benefit of succeed- 
ing generations, that they should separate themselves 
from the free states, and establish a government of their 
own, with slavery as its chief corner stone. The prom- 
inent statesmen of the South only waited an opportune 
moment, to carry into execution, this darling project, 
and place themselves beyond the dictation, or inter- 
ference of those they considered their most bitter ene- 
mies, and whom they viewed with such utter contempt. 

Thus far, they had by some means, been enabled to 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 41 

exert a preponderating influence in the National Legis- 
lature, and in the election of the Executive Officers, and 
the appointment of men, to fill prominent stations under 
the Government, and they boldly declared that when 
their influence should wane, and their power declined, 
and a President should be elected, who represent- 
ed the Northern idea, or possessed abolition pro- 
clivities, they would secede from the Union, as they 
averred was their right, in accordance with the national 
Constitution, and establish a confederacy of their own, 
embodying their peculiar views and principles in its fun- 
damental laws. 

It was impossible in that political condition of our 
country, that a crisis should not arrive when these men 
would seek to put their bold threats into execution, and 
when Abraham Lincoln, in every sense a man of the 
people, and a moderate representative of the ideas then 
prevalent in the Northern States, was elected to fill the 
office of Chief Magistrate, and some time before he had 
taken his seat in the presidential chair, many Senators 
and Representatives had left their places in Congress, 
and the doctrine of States' Rights had culminated in 
the secession of a number of the Southern States, and 
finally a rebellion was inaugurated of vaster propor- 
tions, and more terrible in its consequences, than any 
that ever occurred since history has recorded the annals 
of national events. 

Slavery had made its mark so deeply upon our body 
politic, had become so intimately interwoven into our 
governmental institutions, that nothing less than a 
bloody and desolating war could wash out its stains, and 
cleanse and purify our national escutcheon from the 



42 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

dark spots and murky clouds that could not be covered 
up, and hidden from view by all the glory of the free 
and liberal principles adopted by our Government, and 
taught b} r our citizens. Such a war have we passed 
through, that for bitterness and hatred upon the part of 
the belligerents, has perhaps never had its equal, and 
it is devoutly hoped our country may never experience 
its like again. 

This terrible conflict, too, has doubtless had much to 
do in working out the destinies, not only of this nation, 
but perhaps the entire civilized race. But for the war., 
there would not have been a Pacific Railroad; no 
such easy and speedy means of communication w r ould 
have existed between the East and the West; no open- 
ing up of the great territory lying upon both slopes of 
the Rocky Mountains, bringing all those vast re- 
gions comparatively within the neighborhood of the old- 
er settled States, enabling their great commercial marts 
to extend a friendly hand in developing their latent re- 
sources, and thus helping them to lay the foundations of 
their future greatness. It is said "The mills of the 
gods grind slowly," — but it would seem, since the days 
of railroads and electric telegraphs, that these mills 
have been grinding with accelerated speed, and events 
succeed each other with such rapidity, and seem to fol- 
low upon the heels of their predecessors so suddenly, 
that we are almost overcome, and bewildered in their 
contemplation. 

It would almost seem that the power that holds in its 
bands the destiny of nations, was hurrying up matters, 
and propelling the machine with increased motion, and 
working out the details of history, with railroad or tel- 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 43 

egraphic speed, so that the great denouement may be 
sooner witnessed by the astonished multitude. That 
some power does preside and direct in working out these 
great national problems, no one can doubt, who has ever 
given the most careless glance at the continuous history 
of past events. 

i There must be some presiding intelligence somewhere, 
possessed of power and wisdom adequate to the great 
duties performed, and the influence exerted over men, 
causing them to act in accordance with a certain pro- 
gramme, well understanding, that those acts, although 
unseen by the individuals, vail tend directly toward the 
accomplishment of a fixed purpose. When Jefferson 
Davis left the United States Senate, over ten years 
ago, how little did he know what would be the result of 
that movement he was so desirous to inaugurate. It 
was absolutely necessary he should pursue the course he 
did, in order to aid in the accomplishment of the great 
result that followed. Thus, somehow, he was made an 
instrument in working out the very object that he was 
taking measures to prevent, and had he and his coadju- 
tors remained quiet, might have been prevented for 
many years to come. How exceeding strange, that 
after ten years' struggle through so many unhappy 
vicissitudes of fortune, he should find himself occupying 
an obscure position in an insurance office, that any per- 
son of ordinary ability might fill with honor, while the 
seat he deserted in the Senate Chamber, is to-day filled 
by a black man as his direct successor. He left his place 
in the Senate with the full determination to aid and as- 
sist, to the utmost of his ability, in forging and riveting 
chains upon this honorable Senator and his poster* 



44 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

ity forever, so that neither he, nor any of his genera- 
tion, might hope to enjoy the glorious boon of freedom 
in all the ages to come. He left for the base purpose 
of aiding in the establishment of a government that 
-would entail bondage upon every man, woman and child, 
in whose veins coursed a single drop of African blood; 
but he, against his own will, was made instrumental in 
working out the great problem of universal Freedom, 
for black as well as white; in unloosing the bonds, tak- 
ing off the shackles, and bestowing that liberty upon the 
oppressed, for which they had so long sighed, but sighed 
in vain. 

Not only that, but what the most ardent advocate of 
universal freedom had scarcely dreamed of, raising them 
to citizenship, and bestowing upon them the right of suf- 
frage, and eligibility to official position, thus making 
men of them, in the broadest political sense of that 
term, and placing them upon the high road to intellect- 
ual growth and advancement. Now,we are fairly rid of 
the blighting influences of African Slavery, that has so 
long hung around us as a black pall, darkening and ob- 
scuring our national greatness, and increasing glory. 

We have one railroad completed across the continent, 
and a number more in progress, and in contemplation ; 
we have a million of enterprising people upon the Pacif- 
ic slope; and the intermediate States and Territories are 
rapidly opening to settlement, and being occupied by 
the abodes of industry and civilization, and the very 
natural inquiry is now — what next? Perhaps the 
most momentous question of the present century, that 
can be propounded by an intelligent mind, after all that 
has transpired, is — what next will be the great prom. 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 45 

inent event that shall startle the world, with its magni- 
tude and vast importance to humanity. We have seen 
that "Westward the star of Empire has taken its way," 
thus far; steadily the ever surging tide of emigration 
has rolled in its onward course, from Central Asia 
through the continent of Europe, and then across the 
Atlantic to the Eastern shores of America; and barely 
resting, as if to take breath, it has urged its way through 
the wilderness, and across the desert plains, and precip- 
itous mountain ranges ; until it has finally found this 
lengthened line of Pacific coast, and here it looks out 
upon one wide waste of waters, seven thousand miles in 
extent, that speaks a language to the restless, uneasy, 
ever moving mass of rolling emigration, too plain to be 
misundertood, and says, "Thus far shalt thou go, and 
here let thy proud waves be stayed." The tides of the 
Pacific oppose themselves in stout defiance to the tides 
of emigration, and there can be no question concerning 
which will prove the conqueror. 

Thus it commenced and has gone forward in its cease- 
less march, made, as far as possible, the circuit of the 
globe, and must now find some other territory upon 
which it can continue its onward course, or else coil it- 
self up in its own body and die for want of those activ- 
ities that living principles always exercise; hence we 
conclude that some new field still broader, shall be 
opened up, as living elements in our nature cannot die. 
There are certain powers in man's interior organism, 
that produce all his varied activities, and give rise to 
those proclivities that are found within them, and if an 
individual or a class, manifest a disposition to wander 
from home, and seek new places of abode, it becomes 



46 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

evident there is something about their mental organisms, 
some peculiar constitutional element in their interiors, 
that necessarily leads to such a result. 

This has all been ordered for the wisest purposes, for 
suppose every one was possessed of large inhabitiveness, 
and a general distaste for leaving the parental rooftree, 
forming such lasting attachments to «the scenes of child- 
hood, that they could not sunder the ties that bind them 
to the homes of their ancestors, and the faces of their 
early friends. We perceive that- humanity, and espec- 
ially the civilized part, would have confined itself to the 
narrowest possible limits, and the larger portion of 
God's green earth, would have remained an uncultivated 
wilderness, unadorned by the labor and improvements 
of an advancing civilization; that society would have 
crowded itself into compact cities, and overflowing 
neighborhoods, and endured a thousand inconveniences 
that would have been entailed upon them for the want of 
sufficient room. So far from this being the case, the 
very opposite has seemed to prevail, and a large portion 
of the human race, have actually possessed very small 
inhabitiveness, and have manifested a remarkable dispo- 
sition to wander from home, and penetrate into unex- 
plored and uninhabited countries. 

Such has been the case to a wonderful extent in the 
settling and peopling of the American continent, where, 
as yet, there has been such a large area of country, in 
proportion to the number of its inhabitants. 

It will be perceived, that our ancestors must have 
been largely permeated by this element, or the new 
world would not have received this continuous influx of 
population from the old, and in this respect it cannot be 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 47 

denied, that the children have done full credit to the fa- 
thers, for not a few have adopted almost nomadic hab- 
its, wandering from place to place, with scarcely a fixed 
habitation, and very large numbers have preferred a 
frontier life, moving on still further when the population 
became too numerous to suit their tastes. 

Thus they have continued to spread out, and extend 
their borders, impelled forward, and gradually surging 
onward, scarcely heeding, much less comprehending the 
great problem, they were assisting to work out, until they 
have reached, and are now standing upon this extended 
line of Pacific waters, and the important query that we 
have propounded — what is to be the next move? de- 
mands a reply. 

Emigration, like revolutions,never moves backward, it 
has manifested thus far, no inclination to return, and re- 
coil upon itself, but onward has been its watchword here- 
tofore. We doubt not, such must of necessity, continue 
to be the case, or we might conclude that this tide would 
roll back, and fill up all the unoccupied territory, lying 
between this and the older settled portions of our coun- 
try. But, such is not in the order of things. Men 
may stand upon the shores of the Pacific, destitute of 
employment and means, and there sigh and wait, and 
sigh again, for some other inviting land that holds out 
glittering promises, but they cannot, they will not go 
back.it is not in their natures. There is as a general rule, 
some principle in their mental organizations, that for- 
bids any return; a something within them that speaks in 
language too plain to be misinterpreted, and says go for- 
ward; and they must obey those imperative commands, 
or remain at this their journey's end. 



48 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

The great portion of our present population, came to 
this coast, with the full purpose of acquiring a com- 
petency, and returning to enjoy their gains among those 
scenes with which they had been familiar in their earli- 
er years, but how very few comparatively have carried 
out these designs. The larger number did not acquire 
the competency — and those that did, found fortune tar- 
dy in answering to their earnest appeals, and proved it 
a work of years instead of months, to obtain what they 
considered sufficient to supply their wants in the future, 
and when that period arrived, they found themselves 
surrounded by circumstances that rendered it extremely 
inconvenient to leave, and they have discovered so many 
attractions here, in fact, they have had no desire to re- 
turn, and many of those that really did go back to their 
old homes, for the purpose of spending their days there, 
in ease and plenty, have become dissatisfied, and found 
their way back again to these shores, as more congenial 
to their newly acquired tastes and habits. Arrange the 
matter as you choose, there can be no retrogression, and 
the material to fill up the intervening space beyond 
the Missisippi, must come from the Eastward. There 
is a great surplus of population still in Europe, and it 
is accumulating every year, and only waiting for time 
and transportation to come and take possession of the 
vast unoccupied territory of these States, and when the 
waste places are built up, and filled to overflowing, as 
they will be in a few years, then emigration must roll 
onward from there; and the query still urges itself upon 
our attention, where will it go? It may appear to 
many this question is not one that necessarily demands 
our consideration to-day, as, there is ample room for all 



SCEAPS OF HISTORY. 49 

that may come to our shores. - But it may be well to in- 
quire how the matter may stand when a century or two 
have rolled away, and have added their prolific pages to 
the history of this continent, and of this Government. 

Another remarkable event in this continuous chain of 
history, that all seems looking in one direction, is the 
purchase of the Russian Possessions in North America, 
by our Government. What strange prescience could 
have taken possession of the far-seeing mind of the Sec- 
retary of State, Wm. H. Seward, that prompted him, 
to use every exertion in promoting the purchase of this 
cold, forbidding, and comparatively worthless territory, 
that would seem to contain so little worthy the attention 
of our citizens? Perhaps no purchase could be made, 
within the boundaries of the North American Continent, 
of any portion of its lands, that would appear less desi- 
rable as an acquisition, or that would meet with greater 
opposition from the people; notwithstanding this, the 
purchase has been ratified, and the transfer accomplished, 
and our Government is in full possession of this great 
tract of barren mountains, with all the appurtenances 
of Indians, bears, foxes, and dwarfed growth of timber, 
and whatever else, this extensive, far-off region may 
contain of value. Doubtless it never entered the mind 
of the shrewd Statesman that this same Alaska was pur- 
chased preparatory to the grandest event that has ever 
embellished the pages of history, and that it was abso- 
lutely necessary that our people should own this half 
way house, or resting place between San Francisco and 
the new world, that the extensive steamship lines which 
must be established at no remote period, would require 
supplies of coal, and numerous articles that might be 



50 SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

found upon this territory, and that it was absolutely of 
the greatest possible importance to our country, that the 
purchase should be consummated when it was; thus giving 
into our possession the key that will perhaps unlock the 
vast treasure house of a new world. 

If we go ahead for one hundred years at this rapid 
pace, the question referred to will be of great import. 
Our population since 1790 has increased thirty-three 
and one-third per cent, each decade, and if we may sup- 
pose it will continue to increase for the next thirty years 
upon a similar ratio, our numbers will swell to nearly 
100,000,000, and if we then suppose it may increase 
25 per cent, each succeeding decade until 1970, we 
shall have a population of nearly 400,000,000. And in 
view of all the circumstances connected with the case, 
there can be no doubt, but our numbers will continue to 
increase for centuries to come, until every acre or rood of 
land within our borders is occupied. 

In the meantime we inquire — what is to be done with 
that restless, uneasy mass that have always been going 
ahead, seeking out new territory, and preparing the way 
for the more quiet, stay-at-home class who only follow 
in the wake of the Pioneers. 

We think the reader will be driven to the conclusion 
that one of two facts must occur, either new territory 
must be found upon which this roving element may ex- 
■ its powers, or this element existing so prominently 
in a portion of our race, must die for wa t of the need- 
ed activity, and human organisms must change to moot 
that condition, when emigration is impossible for the 
want of now territory t<> be occupied. Then it will 
be found that Divine wisdom hi '-ally failed in 



SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 51 

arranging mental organisms, for, we find within them 
permanently placed, that which could only have been 
required for temporary purposes, as such a change of 
condition would necessarily render nugatory, all those 
restless, migratory proclivities found so extensively in 
the American or Anglo-Saxon race. 

As we cannot suppose Divine wisdom can make any 
such error, man of course cannot possess organs that will 
not be adapted to his condition during the entire exist- 
ence of the race ; and all the elements in his nature 
must, at all times, have their appropriate uses, and fields 
must be provided wherein they may exercise their activ- 
ities. Hence the required territory must be found of 
necessity, and for this reason we are deeply impressed 
at this particular juncture, to call the public attention to 
its probable discovery at no distant period, and to an- 
nounce the fact that within a few short years, in our 
explorations in the open Polar Sea, a passage to which 
maybe easily found,. by following the warm Oceanic cur- 
rent through Behring's Straits ; an accessible gateway 
will be discovered that will lead the navigator to all the 
territory we can occupy for many thousand years. 

We think the reader must perceive by a cursory 
glance at past historic events, a few of which we have 
faintly delineated, that the fixed time has nearly arrived 
for this grand culmination, and that the day is not far 
distant when this Polar Sea must be explored, and when 
the new territory must be found where this most active 
element existing in our race, may find ample scope for 
its exercise and development; and we dare predict that 
within the next five years this grand discovery will be 
made and published to the world. 



CHAP. II. 



THE OPEN POLAR SEA. 



This sea is a circle surrounding the North Pole, of 
some ten or twelve hundred miles in diameter, enjoying 
a temperate clime, and thus far in our history, almost 
shut out from human observation, by a formidable bar- 
rier of cold, -where may be found a belt, or zone of 
about ten degrees in width, rendered nearly impassible, 
by a climate so rigorous, that none but the most adven- 
urous and daring will attempt its exploration. Within 
this frigid belt, seems to be a charmed circle that pos- 
sesses a sort of fascinating interest, as well for the sci- 
entific explorer as the enterprising navigator. It is 
doubtless the great geographical enigma of the present 
age, but we trust at no distant period, it will be entered 
upon the catalogue of those problems that have been 
solved by long and unwearied exertion, and the enlight- 
ened researches of a steadily advancing civilization. 

Doubtless the contributions of Prof. T. B. Maury to 
Putnam's Magazine of November and December, 1869, 
give the ablest exposition of the whole subject, as yet 
produced by any author, presenting the theory of Capt. 
Bent, and a great array of valuable ideas of his own, 
that are quite new and worthy the highest considera- 
tion; however, we may be compelled to differ with him 



POLAR SEA, 53 

in some of his conclusions. He complains also that sci- 
entific men have been guilty of very serious blunders, 
and do not always make the proper deductions from the 
facts presented, because in many instances, other facts 
may be connected with a subject, that are obscure and 
hidden from view. Very possibly, this may be the case 
in relation to the great unsolved problem in question ; 
for surely there must be room for many unknown facts, 
within an area of a million square miles of unexplored 
territory. There may exist causes within the borders 
of that charmed circle, for external phenomena, little 
dreamed of by those who have not been introduced to 
the scenes that lie hidden within its recesses ; hence the 
great difficulty in arriving at proper conclusions, and 
those that may not be overthrown by subsequent re- 
search. 

However, it is quite apparent, notwithstanding all 
the errors and miscalculations that have been made in 
relation to this matter, for the last three hundred years, 
that the deep interest which has existed all this long 
time, in the minds of so many individuals of different 
countries, is by no means abated, and that the zeal for 
new discoveries in that direction, is no less untiring than 
it has been in the past ; while so many expeditions have 
been sent out by the different maritime nations, at such 
great sacrifice of money and human life ; and that in- 
quiring minds will not be satisfied until the problem is 
solved, and will not cease their efforts, until the mystery 
is entirely explained. 

Captain Bent, under the instruction of Commodore 
Perry of the United States' navy, while stationed in 
Japanese and Chinese waters; by a long series of exper- 



54 POLAR SEA. 

iments and observations made since 1858, ascertained 
that there exists a very extensive Oceanic current of 
warm water flowing from the tropical regions of the 
Pacific ocean, as well as the Atlantic; that it is probably 
more than equal in volume and influences to the Gulf 
Stream, and appears to subserve similar purposes; that 
in its northern course it passes to the eastward of the 
Chinese and Japanese coasts, and thus on to Bearing' s 
Straits. From thence, he supposes it makes a direct 
course northward, through the great icy belt that sur- 
rounds the Polar Sea. He thinks a passage or gate- 
way may be very easilv found through this frozen zone, 
by keeping the track of this warm current, which may 
be done by continuous thermometrical observations. 
He also supposes that a similar passage way may be 
found by following the Gulf Stream by way of Nova 
Zembla, and that both these currents meet at one com- 
mon center near the pole, and thus a great maritime 
highway may be opened through the Arctic Ocean, that 
will wonderfully shorten distances, and prove an incom- 
parable benefit to the commercial intercourse of the en- 
tire world. 

There is no doubt that the Arctic seas will at some 
time become accessible, and easily navigated, because, as 
we are fulh T satisfied, this open Polar Sea and warm circle 
of the North will make encroachments upon the frozen 
belt by which it is at present surrounded, and be wry 
much enlarged. In fact, we are driven to the conclu- 
sion that long before this globe of ours is finished, the 
whole icy bell must melt away, and that our temperate 
will ultimately reach the Polar Sea. and then, 
when the great glacial period has passed away, in the 



POLAR SEA. 55 

far North, as it did at some time from the more south- 
ern latitudes, all those waters will be easily navigated; 
and doubtless long before that period, they may be trav- 
ersed, by passing through the warmer currents, that ex- 
tend into their borders. We conclude at the present time, 
if that goal is reached by vessels of any considerable 
magnitude, the navigator must follow one or the other 
of the Oceanic currents, alluded to by Capt. Bent. 

Furthermore, we think the attempt to reach the open 
sea, regardless of these natural gateways, will as here- 
tofore, prove abortive, and viewing the matter from our 
standpoint upon this Pacific coast, and from the evi- 
dences presented to our minds, we are fully of the opin- 
ion, that the successful expedition is bound to pass 
through Behring's Straits, upon the Kuro Si wo, or the 
Black Stream of Japan. We are convinced that such 
a passage is now open, and may be navigated, whenever 
a party with a suitable craft may make the attempt, and 
indeed, before we heard of Capt. Bent and his theory, 
or the contributions of Prof. Maury to Putnam's Mag- 
azine, we received information upon this subject, and 
had arrived at the same conclusions, and announced 
them to a public audience in Sacramento. 

The frozen regions of the North are mostly contained 
within a zone, or belt of some ten degrees latitude; gen- 
erally ranging from seventy to eighty degrees, and most 
probably, this belt is very much narrower in many pla- 
ces, and particularly in the vicinity of the warm Oce- 
anic currents. Within, or north of this icy belt, the 
climate is comparatively temperate, the sea open, with 
no continuous accumulation of ice ; either in winter or 
summer, and it cannot be dependent for its climatic 



56 POLAR SEA. 

temperature, to any considerable extent, upon those 
causes that regulate the changes of the seasons, south 
of the glacial belt, by which it is surrounded. 

For it will readily be discovered if this polar region 
is dependent upon such causes, it would forever remain 
locked in the frozen embrace of the vast fields of ice 
that would accumulate from year to year and from age 
to age. Those great formations would have naturally 
encroached upon the temperate latitudes, thus extend- 
ing their area and depth, until all the w T aters upon the 
face of the earth would have been attracted thither to 
swell the increasing glaciers of the Arctic regions ; and 
all the solar and other influences operating in the tem- 
perate zones, could not have prevented the catastrophe. 

For if, between the seventieth and eightieth parallels 
of latitude, spite of these influences, there exists con- 
tinuously increasing bodies of ice, four to five thousand 
feet in thickness, and which in accordance with a cer- 
tain well-known law, are urging their w 7 ay forward to 
the sea, slowly and surely, and ultimately breaking off 
in the immense icebergs, that come floating to the south ; 
what would naturally be the condition in a latitude still 
farther to the north, or at the pole, if no other causes 
were brought to bear, to regulate the climate, and pre- 
vent such a state of things? 

We plainly discover that these mountainous accumu- 
lations, must have increased until they would have tow- 
ered to the skies, had not the great presiding mind or- 
dered it differently, and arranged this globe in such a 
manner, that a temperate clime might also exist at this 
polar extreme, as well as at the other apparently m6re 
favored latitudes. And we clearly see, without going into 



POLAR SEA. 57 

an accurate computation concerning the annual amount 
of absorption, that if a portion of the water was 
locked up each year in the glacial formations of the 
polar regions, then at some time the waters of the ocean 
would all be drawn thither. But as there is no percep- 
tible diminution of the waters upon the globe, we may 
conclude that a large portion of the Arctic regions are 
free from such vast bodies of ice, and hence it would 
seem to be established if there was no other evidence, 
that there must be a temperate clime, and an open polar 
sea. 

This subject has been of great interest to navigators 
and. men of science, for a very long period, and they 
have given the matter great attention, and numerous 
expeditions have been fitted out, with a view of explor- 
ing all those regions; not only to bring to light the 
mysteries that might lie hidden in this terra incognita, 
but also to aid commerce, bv discovering the long talked 
of northwest passage from Europe to India; and nav- 
igators from time to time, with one or the other of these 
purposes in view, have penetrated into very high lat- 
itudes. They have made what discoveries they could, 
but evidently the time had not yet arrived in the history 
of human affairs, when all the secrets of that myste- 
rious circle should be made known to the world. There 
seems thus far to have been a barrier that has kept nav- 
igators ftom penetrating into the extreme northern re- 
gions, and yet some of them declare there was nothing 
in view to hinder, for they could look to the north as 
far as the eye, or their glasses could penetrate, and all 
was open; no impediments in the way; but they did not 
go on. Some inexplicable reason prevented those par- 



58 POLAR SEA. 

ties from pursuing where the road lay open before them, 
and has prevented their successors from finding any 
open pathway until the present time, and we are still in 
the same condition of ignorance concerning the myste- 
ry ; the great geographical enigma of our globe still re- 
mains unsolved, and our ideas of the extreme North are 
but little clearer than in the days of Columbus. 

It is known that captains of whalers have penetrated 
far to the north of Behring's Straits, without seeing 
any traces of ice; aud whalemen who have visited the 
harbor of San Francisco, state from -personal know 1 - 
edge, that it is much easier when as high as latitude 
seventy-two degrees, a little north of the Straits, to 
find moderate weather in which to winter, by going 
northward, than by going southward. Capt. Parry in 
1810, saw no visible signs of ice in the very highest lat- 
itude he reached. Wrangle in 1820, far to the north 
and east of Behring's Straits, saw no appearance of ice; 
but for some strange reason, when these navigators were 
in those waters, and had such precious opportunities, 
they did not prosecute their explorations, and those rare 
chances for more extended research, seem to be lost 
forever to the world, while the great problem is still pre- 
sented for solution. 

Without doubt the best authenticated evidence in re- 
lation to the whole subject may be found in Dr. Kane's 
journal of the second Grinnell expedition, and perhaps 
Dr. I. I. Hayes in his Open Polar Sea, may throw some 
further light upon the matter, though we fail to sec that 
lie added much to the stock of information given by 
Morton, the steward of Kane's second expedition, 
who has never received the credit justly due for the 



POLAR SEA. 59 

great discovery he personally made in relation to the 
Polar Sea. 

Capt. Bent feels quite confident that some Dutch 
whalers in 1655, sailed to the vicinity of the pole, from 
the eastward, or from their whaling ground near Nova 
Zembla; and quotes from the archives of the Royal So- 
ciety of London, in support of the idea; but there are 
some doubts whether the authority of whale captains in 
that age, would be quite reliable, science having made 
some revealments since that day, of w T hich they were 
entirely ignorant. Navigators of a far later period, 
have been much puzzled to find their whereabouts 
in the northern seas, in consequence of the unknown 
position of the magnetic pole, discovered by Capt. Ross 
in 1832, and if in a more advanced condition of sci- 
ence, they have been at a loss to find their latitude and 
longitude, how can we place implicit confidence in 
the unlearned whalemen of 1650. We are also per- 
suaded that very dangerous phenomena exist in that 
vicinity, where the Electro-Magnetic currents converge 
to a common center, phenomena that have not yet been 
revealed to mortal eyes, and of which we may hereafter 
speak at greater length. 

It does not seem to occur to northern navigators, that 
the immense glacial formation, upon the land in those 
frozen latitudes, have produced increased chilling influ- 
ences upon the w^ater; and that of course by the pro- 
cessess that are continuously going forward, the com- 
paratively narrow channels must necessarily be filled 
with icebergs, thus rendering the waters of those chan- 
nels and bays still colder. In all those explorations, 
they have seemed very desirous to keep near shore ; 



60 POLAR SEA. 

which may be very proper in some cases, but we con- 
clude this course has been fatal heretofore to the suc- 
cess of the arctic discoverer; for there can be no doubt, 
it would be wisdom to get as far as possible, from the 
cold influences of the vast glacial formations upon these 
northern continents and islands, and doubtless when the 
gateways are discovered, they will be found as far as 
possible from the land. 

The German Arctic expedition that was heard from 
some time since upon the eastern coast of Greenland, 
and almost upon the track of Henry Hudson, are expe- 
riencing the same difficulties, a great deal of mist and 
more cold than in 1868, with adverse winds; because 
they have placed th emselves directly under the influ- 
ence of the vast glaciers of the coast of Greenland, 
and of necessity they must experience the result — ad- 
verse winds, fogs, mists and severe cold. That expedi- 
tion is fated like its predecessors to return, (if it does 
return,) unsuccessful. 

AVe have perhaps said already, what is necessary 
upon the phenomena of the polar climate, the fact of 
an open sea, and a territory of great interest to human- 
ity, at the far North; if not, the reader can find a great 
fund of information in the various books published that 
we need not repeat here, and now we may examine a 
little into the causes for these phenomena, that have 
been presented by navigators and scientific men. 

Capt. Bent says, "And I, therefore reiterate the con- 
viction expressed in my communication to the President 
of the Geographical Society of New York, that the 
Gulf Stream, and the Kuro Siwo, are the prime and 



POLAR SEA. 61 

only cause of the open sea about the pole, with its tem- 
perature so much above that due to its latitude." 

Prof. Maury fully endorses this opinion, and claims 
that the "warm oceanic currents carry an amount of 
water to the polar regions, of about forty-eight to fifty 
degrees, and more probably sixty degrees temperature, 
entirely sufficient to displace all the cold water that can 
accumulate there, or that can become chilled after its 
arrival, which rushes off in under currents to the south." 
Secondly, " An untold amount of aqueous vapors arising 
from the waters of the warmer latitudes, and forced 
by the prevailing winds to the northern polar circle, 
spreading out accumulates, as a vast blanket of non- 
conducting material which prevents the latent heat car- 
ried forward by the warm currents, from radiating and 
passing off into space." Thirdly, "The all-potent in- 
fluences of the solar rays that are permitted to pen- 
etrate the atmosphere of that region during the six 
months of the year," also "Heat radiates upon the 
earth from every quarter of the starry heavens, which 
has been ascertained by scientific experiments, to equal 
five-sixths of the solar heat. 

Fourthly, "The agitation of the waters by these two 
counter currents, as they come in contact at the pole, 
and form a sort of commingling eddy, the friction at- 
tending this violent clashing of currents would necessa- 
rily produce great and extended heat. 

Fifthly and lastly, " The internal heat of the earth, 
which Fourier has proved to be equal to incandescence, 
and as miners, when they penetrate beneath the earth's 
surface, find a constantly increasing temperature of one 
degree Fahrenheit in about fifty feet,it would be easy to 
6 



62 POLAR SEA. 

prove that at the distance of twenty-five miles, every 
thing, even the most refractory rocks are in a molten 
condition, and brought to a white heat, and that in con- 
sequence of the depression or flattening at the pole, the 
crust would be thinner, bringing this region nearer to 
the vast Cyclopean furnace, by about thirteen miles, 
than any other portion of the globe," and thus the Pro- 
fessor makes his case. It cannot be doubted, the most 
sceptical mind will be compelled to admit, that the array 
of causes are truly formidable, and ought to be entirely 
satisfactory, if they can be brought to bear by any of 
the laws and processes that are used in accomplishing 
the great purposes of nature, upon this particular por- 
tion of the globe. He has elaborated the subject to an 
extent that would seem final and conclusive, and no 
doubt the Professor has presented the most advanced 
scientific thoughts of the present age, but the careful 
reader will discover that any one of the causes he has 
introduced, would be quite sufficient of itself to produce 
the desired result, if there were no impediments in the 
way, and nothing to prevent their direct action. 

If these warm oceanic currents go up there in such 
great volume, sufficient to displace all the cold water 
and they are at a temperature of fifty degrees, nothing 
more is needed to produce an open sea, than to fill it up 
with warm water and keep a constant supply running 
in as fast as it cools, and passes out. It requires no 
great stretch of the intellect to discover that fact, and 
we cannot help thinking, the gentleman lias thrown dis- 
trust and uncertainty mound his own theories, by enter- 
ing the fields of scientific research, and bringing mete- 
orological and internal geological influences to bear, in 



POLAR SEA. 63 

assisting a cause, which he makes entirely adequate 
to produce all the results that have been made known 
in the polar regions. 

It is quite as damaging to any hypothesis, to prove 
too much, and weakens our cause as effectually as if the 
evidence presented in its support, lacked sufficient force 
and authority. If we simply wish to show that within 
the ice-bound regions of the North, there is an open, un- 
frozen sea of a certain diameter, with a climate that is 
temperate, there can be no propriety in traveling out into 
the regions of ideality, and producing in support of such 
theory, causes sufficient to bring all the waters upon the 
entire globe, to the boiling point. We only need to 
show that causes exist commensurate with the effects 
produced. 

The fact that two immense warm oceanic currents are 
now running from the tropical regions, carrying up 
large quantities of vegetable food for the Arctic whales 
and influencing the climate of the extreme North to a 
certain extent will not be disputed, but that the effects of 
these currents are sufficient to warm all the waters of 
the polar sea, is extremely doubtful. We doubt also 
that those waters are warmed by any terrible Cyclopean 
furnace of such awful magnitude and intense heat as the 
one spoken of, which our friend thinks must be more 
contiguous in consequence of the spheroidicity of the 
earth. 

If these currents are so potent in their influences in 
this unex plored Polar Sea, where navigators have never 
penetrated to mark their effects, we can but wonder why 
they have not operated upon a grander scale farther to 
the South, where very many travelers have been, for 



64 POLAR SEA. 

several hundred years, searching for a pathway. It 
certainly seems that they would exert an influence upon 
the icy belt, quite as powerful as they do further to 
the north, and that a passage way as wide as one of 
these warm oceanic currents, would have been discov- 
ered long since. These currents, it is said, rest upon 
a cushion of cold water, during their entire passage, 
and radiate a very large quantity of heat, so much so, 
that the temperature is materially aifected both by land 
and sea, all along their entire course, and we must sup- 
pose the heat that is radiated and passes off during the 
journey, is not carried to the North Pole. Again, the 
line which marks the waters of the Gulf Stream, is very 
sharply drawn, so that a vessel may have one-half in the 
warm current, and the other half in the colder waters 
of the ocean. 

"As cold water is a bad conductor of caloric, it is not 
affected to any considerable extent, and this is a wise pro- 
vision of nature, lest the stream should come in contact 
with the bottom, or with the shore, the earth being a 
better conductor, allowing the heat to radiate and pass 
off, and in no place during this long journey, does this 
stream approximate very nearly to the shore, or to the 
ocean bottom, but rests during the entire circuitous route 
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pole upon this cushion 
of cold water." 

We may now learn some of the wonders of this mar- 
velous Gulf Stream during its journey northward, as 
represented by scientific men. It radiates caloric suf- 
ficient to produce a stream of molten lava as ?arge or 
larger than the Mississippi at its mouth. It renders the 
climate that would otherwise be cold and cheerlesSj 



POLAR SEA. 65 

balmy and genial almost its entire distance, and yet ar- 
rives after a lengthy journey of 4,500 miles, through all 
the rigors of the northern latitudes, so little changed in 
temperature that it is capable of warming one-half the 
Polar Sea. This is what it does above the ocean's sur- 
face; mark what it does beneath. Although it never 
approaches the shore, but rests and travels upon its cold 
cushion, at a respectful distance, yet they say its influ- 
ence is such that it produees beautiful coral formations 
in the chasms of the rocks near the coasts of Norway 
and Lapland ; and what it may do when it gets to its 
destination, perhaps will only be known, when men get 
there to see. 

It is unnecessary for our purpose to inquire into the 
exact amount of iron that might be fused by the caloric 
radiated from the Gulf Stream, but we consider there are 
some doubts concerning the isothermal influence pro- 
duced upon the western coast of Europe, as the climatic 
temperature does not materially differ from the same lat- 
itudes upon the western shores of this continent, where 
the prevailing oceanic currents are from the opposite 
direction, and we must conclude the causes co-incident, 
that produce similar results upon either continent. 

The coral specimens found by the fishermen of Nor- 
way and Lapland, require more than a passing notice, 
so we give the author's own words : "A beautiful coral 
forming long rose colored branches, was found in the 
rocky chasms of the sea, on the north-western shore of 
Norway, in latitude sixty-seven, or about twenty-three 
degrees from the Pole, and pieces of this coral have 
been obtained, where the Laplanders fishing for cod> 
have brought it up from the sea with their lines." These 



66 POLAR SEA. 

silent monitors that are fished up from the depths of 
the sea, and are found in the depths of this earth, 
ever speak a dumb language of their own, though 
that language may at times, be misinterpreted by men 
of scientific attainments. Our author says: "It is a 
startling commentary upon the power of the Gulf 
Stream to transfer climatic submarine temperatures," 
and still further, "As a rule the hottest water of the 
Gulf Stream is at or near the surface, and there is rea- 
son to believe, that its waters are nowhere permitted in 
the oceanic economy, to touch the bottom of the sea. 
There is every where a cushion of cold water between 
them and the solid parts of the earth's crust. 

Where was the beautiful branching rose colored coral 
found? In the warm, genial currents of the Gulf 
Stream, where a sub-marine temperature might have 
been brought from tropical climes, suited to that kind of 
productions? By no means. It was fished up from 
the rocky chasms at the bottom of the sea, and nearer 
the shore, and upon the solid parts of the earth's crust, 
cosily nestled in this cushion of cold water, where, in 
the oceanic economy, the Gulf Stream never approaches 
and where the temperature could have been, in accord- 
ance with this theory, and doubtless in fact, no way in- 
fluenced by the Gulf Stream or its proximity, anj 7 more 
than if it had been a thousand miles distant. We dis- 
cover very clearly if corals exist off the coast of Nor- 
way and Lapland, produced by the Gulf Stream, they 
would more likely exist far to the south, where the 
stream must be warmer, and approaches quite as near 
the land as is the case at the Shetland, the Hebrides and 
Faroe [sles, and off the coast of Ireland, where this 



POLAR SEA, 67 

cause must exert a far stronger influence. All these 
places being destitute of such phenomena, we are com- 
pelled to conclude when they occur so far to the north, 
some other cause has been brought into activity, in their 
production. 

We cannot think the Gulf Stream, wonderful and sub- 
lime as it may be in its operations, as it pursues its 
majestic pathway to the North, and presses onward 
through the icy belt that guards the Polar Sea, per- 
forms all the submarine marvels that may be found 

«/ 

to exist in the depths of the ocean. We do not think it 
can possibly warm the harbor of Hamerfest, that is 
land-locked and almost upon the northern verge of the 
coast of Norway, and is a favorite resort of navigators 
in the winter season, because it remains nearly free from 
ice, or that it can produce coral upon the shores of Lap- 
land; for both these points are certainly quite remote 
from its influences. Prof. F. M. Maury, in his charts, 
represents the currents as coming from the North, the 
entire length of the coasts of Norway, placing the Gulf 
Stream considerably to the west; and we suppose, his 
charts must be received as authority, until they are su- 
perseded by something more accurate. 

So we think we shall be compelled to turn our atten- 
tion in some other direction, in order to find a cause that 
will explain the phenomenon of the corals, and it is 
barely possible, that these tropical submarine produc- 
tions existing so far from their native climes within the 
tropics, may throw some light upon another subject that 
now lies involved in mystery. It is a remarkable fact, 
that these corals were found in the immediate vicinity, 
the one, of the famous Maelstrom, off the coast of Nor- 



68 POLAR SEA. 

way. and the other, near a similar whirlpool of nearly 
the same magnitude, that lies still to the north, and in 
the vicinity of the Lapland fisheries. There is some- 
thing extremely marvelous that such productions should 
be found in close proximity to these whirlpools, and to 
say the least it is a remarkable co-incidence, and would 
lead us to suppose they might have some connnection 
with those unexplained phenomena, and that possibly, 
there was a more intimate relationship existing between 
them than has been supposed. In the absence of ther- 
mometrical observations, we must make the best use we 
can of the rays of light that are dawning upon our 
minds in regard to these marine vortices that occur in 
the higher latitudes, and there can be no doubt, they 
are numerous in those untraversed seas, both in the 
Northern and Southern Hemispheres. 

The Electro-Magnetic currents are known to exist 
upon every quarter of the globe, running from north to 
south, or in a longitudinal direction. They permeate 
the whole atmosphere, and in all places where no local 
impediments are found, guide the magnetic needle. Be- 
ing longitudinal they must as they approximate either 
pole, converge towards a common focus; thus impinging 
upon each other, they might be attended with a friction 
productive of dangerous results, if all these currents 
continued to the pole. To avoid this danger, cer- 
tain of these currents must drop out from the great body 
as they approach the common polar center. It will be 
noticed that the currents spoken of must be continuous 
and form a complete circuit, as any break or disrup- 
tion- wouM permit the Electro-Magnetic iluids to accu- 
mulate and cause serious disturbances. Now, we per- 



POLAR SEA. 69 

ceive if these currents are continuous, they must pass 
from the exterior atmosphere, and then on to the 
south, near the concave surface of the shell, passing 
to the exterior again at the southern pole, thus contin- 
uing the circuit, and they form the warp of numerous webs 
that seem to enwrap the physical parts of the earth upon 
every side, both without and within. There is little doubt 
but the larger portion of these Electro-Magnetic cur- 
rents, passes through the shell at different points within 
the unknown polar circle; but, as they converge together 
from some unknown cause of attraction, as we have said, 
some of them drop out and pass through in lower latitudes, 
and we discover disturbances would necessarily be pro- 
duced, wherever such is the case to any great extent. 

There is but little doubt further investigation will 
prove conclusively that Electro-Magnetic action is the 
cause of the disturbance in the waters of the Maelstrom,and 
also at the whirlpool still to the north, and the consequent 
friction is productive of a tropical submarine tempera- 
ture, congenial to the coral insect, or marine vegetation, 
belonging to the warmer latitudes ; w r e are quite sure if 
you leave the vicinity of those vortices, you will find no 
coral. We presume scientific men of the present day 
will not endorse this hypothesis, but leave it for their 
children. However, we may safely challenge them to 
look out into the realm of causes, and find any other 
reasonable view of the subject that can be supported by 
a shadow of evidence. It will be observed that these 
whirlpools are always more agitated, and more danger- 
ous at times when there is any considerable electric 
activity. 

We are not writing this work for the purpose of com- 



70 POLAK SEA. 

batting any person's theories or opinions, and do not 
wish to do so, only so far as they are in direct conflict 
with those we are endeavoring to support, and hence, in 
our opinion, untenable. So we are perfectly willing that 
the prevailing winds should carry all the aqueous vapor 
to the polar regions, any one wishes to send, however dif- 
ficult it might seern, from the point we occupy, to get it 
across the icy belt, during the cold part of the year, 
when it is most needed. We had conceived that a tem- 
perature usually sixty degrees below zero, was quite un- 
favorable for such purposes of transportation, but if it 
will go, under those circumstances, we make no objec- 
tions. Again, if the solar influences have manifested 
any disposition to go straight ahead to the polar sea, and 
concentrate all their power there, without regard to that 
portion of the globe lying between seventy and eighty 
degrees, or the icy belt, we shall be compelled to accede 
to that state of things, still we cannot discover how it 
is they can give that frozen zone the go by, and not 
let their rays fall with equal potency upon the vast 
glaciers of Northern Greenland, that are accumulating 
from year to year. We had supposed the god of day im- 
partial in bestowing his blessings upon our world, and 
that he would, as far as circumstances permitted, treat 
all portions of the globe alike, and certainly he has a 
better opportunity to let his warming influences fall 
upon the icy beU than upon the polar sea, and yet those 
frozen regions remain from age to age, locked in the 
cold embrace of the frost king, spite of the sun's fierc- 
est rays. And if the "sun-studded heavens" choose to 
radiate all their virtues and influences upon those re- 
gions, we submit; though we are quite unable to discov- 



POLAR SEA. 71 

er why the effects of any warmth from that source, 
would not be general, and expended upon all parts of 
the globe alike. We are at a loss to know why such 
causes should be introduced by scientific men who seem 
to have others in their possession so all-potent and over- 
whelming, and why they should go out into the intermin- 
able regions of space, to bring down a trifle of stellar 
heat to assist in keeping the polar sea from freezing, 
when they had already succeeded in placing, by accurate 
mathematical computation, a vast globe of incandescent 
molten material, only twelve miles distant from the wa- 
ters they wish to keep warm. 

We think if this vast body of incandescent heat really 
exists where the figures have placed it, there will be no 
difficulty in keeping the polar circle from freezing; but 
there may be very serious doubts whether we can keep 
it from boiling ; and perhaps if we canvass the matter a 
little, we may find other difficulties that have not been 
contemplated. It becomes necessary to take a more ex- 
tended consideration of such an all-powerful cause of 
polar warmth, as this fire theory is very much in the 
way of our grand central idea, and of course would to- 
tally annihilate the position we have assumed, and the 
theory we are endeavoring to substantiate, and in self- 
defense, although we have devoted a chapter to this sub- 
ject, we shall be compelled "to allude to the matter in 
this connection. If the diameter of the globe is eight 
thousand miles, and it has a solidified crust twenty-five 
miles in thickness, and the balance is molten lava, then 
there must be an orb of that material within this crust, 
7,950 miles in diameter, containing fifty-four fifty- 
fifths of the solid contents of the whole superstruc- 



72 POLAR SEA. 

ture, leaving one fifty-fifth of all this vast body of mate- 
rial, in a partially elaborated condition, that is, so much 
has passed out of this fiery, unevolved, primal condition, 
or cooled and assumed the form of granite, then disin- 
tegrated and formed sedimentary deposits, and so on, 
until it is covered with sufficient alluvial soil to produce 
the vegetable, and sustain all this scene of animal life, 
and activity. We hesitate not to pronounce this theory 
one of those learned humbugs that will give place at 
the proper time to more intelligent and enlightened 
views, which are harmonious with all known facts and 
phenomena that exist. 

They claim that this immense mass of molten lava is 
sufficiently heated to melt the most refractory rocks, 
and if so, we can but wonder the refractory rocks are 
not melted, as in accordance with Fourier's computation 
there is fifty-five times the amount of molten lava that 
there is of rock, or crust of any description, and if this 
lava is capable of melting the most refractory rocks, 
how did these rocks happen to cool when they were orig- 
inally right in the midst, and a part and parcel of this 
huge, super-heated mass. We do not like to be inquis- 
itive, but would simply inquire where the fuel is ob- 
tained that keeps up this vast amount of glowing heat 
throughout the eternal ages, for no philosopher has ever 
yet devised a means that would be effectual in producing 
a great or small mass of molten lava, or in reducing min- 
eral substances to a state of fusion, and holding them in 
that condition for any length of time, without using com- 
bust ible material to generate the requisite amount of 
heat, and as heat being a positive element, is exhaustive 
of its own forces, a continuous supply of fuel must be 



POLAR SEA. T3 

provided, else the fire will go out, and the heat discon- 
tinue, whether under or above the earth. If philos- 
ophers can keep up such a terrible fire in the bowels of 
the earth without fuel, why do they not do the same 
upon the earth's surface? they could soon make their 
fortunes. But we refer the reader to the chapter upon 
this subject, where he will find it considered in many of 
its deformities and ugly details. 

It cannot be doubted but there are causes sufficient 
in the realms of the natural universe, to produce all the 
effects that will ever come to the knowledge of men, 
but causes must always when found, be commensurate 
with the effects produced, and the intimate relationship 
betweeen the one and the other, will be apparent. If 
we should discover an elephant in labor, we should not 
expect the result would be a mouse, but that it would 
correspond with the magnitude of the producing cause. 
If we should ascertain that at a fixed locality upon the 
surface of this globe, certain phenomena existed, that 
could be found nowhere else, we should conclude the 
causes that produced such local phenomena, could 
not exert general influences upon all parts of the globe 
alike, and hence they must be confined to that locality. 
When we find a temperate polar circle of a million or so 
square miles, surrounded and enclosed upon all sides by 
a broad extent of territory extremely cold and frozen, 
we must conclude, that some causes are operating within 
the warmer circle, that do not expend their forces upon 
the surrounding frigid zone; for most assuredly, any 
cause that would keep that circle free from ice, and ren- 
der its climate warm and genial, would produce the same 
result, if brought to bear unon any other portion of the 
7 



74 POLAR SEA. 

globe. We must look for causes entirely local, that ex- 
ist within the circle, and do not extend their influences 
beyond its borders, or that are universal in their char- 
acter, and originate away out in the "sun studded heav- 
ens," or in the rays of the sun for one-half the year. 
For it is quite clear that all these influences would be as 
effectual in dissolving the vast glaciers of the frozen belt 
southward of the warm circle, and would render the en- 
tire arctic regions as mild and temperate as the open 
polar sea. 

We have already spoken of the longitudinal, Electro- 
Magnetic currents, that they must converge to a com- 
mon focus at or near the pole, and pass through the 
spherical shell, continuing southward upon the interior 
concave surface, thus making a complete circuit, and 
that where these currents pass through the water, they 
will necessarily produce friction, creating disturbances 
and agitation, thus imparting great heat to the sur- 
rounding waters, as is evidently the case at the Mael- 
strom off Norway, and other whirlpools in the Northern 
Seas, near which the corals and other tropical marine 
productions are found. These attenuated fluid elements 
may pass with the utmost facility the most solid mate- 
rial substances, but in their pathway they always pro- 
duce certain results, and quite generally heat ensues 
where there are any considerable Electro-Magnetic activ- 
ities, and we readily discover, if all or most of these 
currents or threads that exist in ever} 7 portion of the 
►nverge at or near this point, or within the 
polar circle, and there pass through the water or more 
solid earth to the interior Burface; then very great dis- 
turbances must exist, and very considerable heat must 



POLAR SEA. 75 

be produced; doubtless quite sufficient to prevent the 
freezing of the waters of the entire polar circle. 

If the reader would dare admit that there might be 
an extensive spiral gateway within this circle, leading to 
the interior surface, and to a beautiful, more highly de- 
veloped world than can be found upon the exterior, 
where every thing is warm and cheerful, and which re- 
ceives its light and heat from the aural instead of the 
magnetic element; then he .might find a prolific source 
for those influences that not only aid in rendering the 
open polar sea genial and temperate in its climate, but 
also assist in presenting to the human vision, those grand 
auroral displays that strike the mind with such profound 
astonishment, and which are so little understood by the 
philosophers of the present age. 

I think we shall readily discover that these two local 
causes will prove entirely sufficient to produce all the 
climatic influences that can be experienced in the north- 
ern polar circle, without importing any from the far-off 
heavens, or sending them up from the tropical regions. 
If it can be supposed that "the clashing of the waters,'' 
in that region, caused by the convergence and commin- 
gling of the two great oceanic currents," can produce 
sensible heat sufficient to change the temperature of the 
Polar Sea; then we may well conclude that the disturb- 
ances and agitations produced by a continuous passage 
of the Electro-Magnetic fluids, would be most potent in 
their character, and productive of very extended climat- 
ic influences. It will be noticed that the fluid particles 
of Electro-Magnetism pass through the denser portions 
of the earth in a spiral form as the particles of water 
escape through an aperture, or as the atmosphere rushes 



76 POLAR SEA. 

through a seeming vacuum ; thus increasing the agitation 
and consequent friction, and when we consider that the 
great majority of the Electro-Magnetic currents that 
surround the globe, have converged to this central focus 
within the polar circle, we may well suppose that the 
effects produced are very terrible, and the frictionizing 
and heating processes quite sufficient to change and mate- 
rially modify the temperature of the entire Polar Sea. 

We present these two causes, entirely local in their 
character, as explanatory of the great secret of a warm- 
er clime in the extreme North, which must exist inde- 
pendent of those general laws that seem to produce 
changes and conditions of temperature between the icy 
belts that have thus far guarded the polar circles, and 
kept the most enterprising navigators at a distance that 
has precluded any very minute observations. We notice 
here the obvious fact, that this earth is a huge mechan- 
ical, self-moving machine, and like all other machines, 
it requires motive-power, which philosophers in all their 
researches into its physical structure have never been 
able to supply. No scientific mind has been qualified 
to inform us where the power originated, that rolls this 
earth upon its axis once in twenty-four hours ; notwith- 
standing they are compelled to admit that an immense 
power must be generated in some manner, in order to 
produce these revolutions, and that forces of somechar- 
acter must be applied, or else no movement or activities 
could be effected. The mind endowed with but limited 
mechanical ability, will discover at once, that the great 
positive arid negative forces, or the fluid elements of 
Electro-Magnetism in their passage spirally through a 
spherical shell at both its axial poles, must be product- 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 77 

ive of motive power, and that, if these forces are suffi- 
cient in quantity, revolutions of the shell or globe must 
necessarily ensue. We treat further upon this subject 
in its appropriate place. 

It is to be hoped that the wonderful mysteries that 
have from all time lain concealed within this well guard- 
ed open Polar Sea, will soon be revealed to the world; 
and if we can possibly induce "the powers that be " to 
appropriate the sum needed to equip an expedition upon 
the Pacific side, we doubt not that this sealed book maybe 
opened, and the problem that has hitherto eluded the com- 
bined efforts of the entire civilized world, may be solved 
in less than a single year. Let every reader do his ut- 
most to aid this enterprise, and let us inaugurate as soon 
as possible a Pacific, Arctic, exploring expedition ; for 
when all that lies hidden within the polar circle, is re- 
vealed to mankind, then humanity will take another 
stride in advance. 



CHAP. III. 

THE IGNEOUS THEORY OR INTERIOR FIRE GLOBE. 

It was conceived by the elder Herschell, that our 
solar system was at one period in its history, an extend- 
ed mass or spheroidal globe of nebulous matter or gas- 
eous substance, larger in diameter than the orbit of the 
most exterior planet ; that, this mass at some time in the 



78 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

past, and for some unknown cause, acquired motion, or 
commenced a revolution upon an axis, that in conse- 
quence of such revolution, the exterior particles became 
more condensed, and were thrown off from time to time 
into vast rings, entirely detached from the great orig- 
inal mass, which by some law coiled themselves up into 
smaller globes, and in this manner our planetary system 
has been formed. In consequence of condensation, 
great heat has ensued, and these young globes have be- 
come intensely heated; so much so that all the material 
of which they are composed, was held in a state of fu- 
sion, and although they say the heat was entirely suffi- 
cient to melt the most unfusible matter, yet by some 
process unknown to man these elements cooled and 
formed into granite. 

This theory was elaborated more extensively, by the 
celebrated French astronomer and mathematician, La- 
Place, and hence, it is usually called the Nebulous or 
Laplace Theory. It has been endorsed by most astron- 
omers, and geologists, and doubtless it is at present, 
the most popular view of the physical formation of the 
globes in all planetary systems. This theory has been 
seized upon by many liberal minds as refuting most con* 
clusively, the Bible history of creation, and it is sup- 
posed to be a solution and explanation of very many of 
the problems and phenomena that exist in the vast do- 
main of nature, which were onty mystified by the so- 
called revealed history given by the inspired Moses. 

There is, however, a possibility that both Moses and 
LaPlace may have entertained incorrect and very erro- 
neous opinions, and possibly both may have enunciated 
some valuable truths; and it remains for posterity to 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 79 

discriminate between the truths and errors they have 
left on record, to sift out the grains of wheat and reject 
the chaff. It is hardly probable that all of truth upon 
this vast subject Avill be given to man, until by education, 
he is brought up to that condition in which he can re- 
ceive and entertain a just appreciation of the spirit or 
soul of all things. It is our purpose to glance at this 
igneous theory, and discover, if possible, how much of 
truth it contains, and, perhaps, ascertain, whether it does 
explain all the facts and phenomena that exist upon our 
globe ; and if it is really the ultimatum of all knowledge 
concerning the physical formation of this grand super- 
structure ; and whether the human mind may not safely 
venture out, a step beyond this philosophy. It is cer- 
tainly an open inquiry that may still be made, whether 
the wondrous architectural skill and ingenuity brought 
to bear in the production of this marvelous mechanical 
structure, has absolutely made nothing but an immense 
bomb-shell filled brim full of intensely heated molten 
lava; and left it there to cool off during the eternities of 
the future. These theorists estimate the crust of the 
globe, surrounding this igneous mass, at various depths, 
from twenty-five to sixty miles, but probably the mean 
of the various estimates would be about forty miles. 

They bring in support of this view, a great variety of 
evidences, such as the increasing temperature, as we go 
downwards into the earth, either in mines or artesian 
wells. The evident igneous formation of granite; the 
supposed action of hot water upon the lower sedimentary 
rocks; the very large extent of territory affected by 
earthquakes, showing as they say, the cause to be co- 
extensive with the effects. The vast amount of lava, 



80 IGXEOUS THEORY. 

thrown from volcanoes, and the continuous activity of 
numbers of them from age to age, proving their re- 
sources to be inexhaustible, and that they must have a 
common origin. The foregoing are some of the argu- 
ments we are to notice, in reviewing a theory supported 
by the ablest scientific minds of our age, and that 
places a vast fire orb within the globe, that contains thir- 
ty-four thirty-fifths of the entire material, composing the 
whole structure. That is, the solid crust upon which 
we tread with such apparent safety, may contain one 
thirty-fifth of all the material in the globe, and if the 
crust is forty mi ] es in thickness, then the interior or liq- 
uid fire must be 7,920 miles in diameter. If men can 
absolutely prove that such are the only principles upon 
which worlds can be constructed, and that there is no 
other mode by which they can be formed in a proper 
manner, set in motion, and made to subserve their pur- 
poses, and that this plan reaches the highest possible 
extent of mechanical skill, then we shall be compelled 
to adopt this theory, and accept it as correct. 

But as long as there must be a variety of ways which 
competent intelligences might introduce in the construc- 
tion of worlds, the same as in the buiding of ships or 
dwellings, we shall be compelled to adopt a less clumsy, 
and more harmonious view, and one less horrifying to 
the finer sensibilities that exist in the minds of civilized 
humanity. We deem it quite sufficient to have been 
compelled for many long years, to swallow the theolog- 
ical hell, without trying to force down a scientific one of 
almost equal dimensions. The prominent argument in 
support of this theory, has been the increase of temper- 
ature as we penetrate the earth ; generally about one 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 81 

degree in fifty or sixty feet, and this view seems to have 
been universal, as far as experiments have been made, up 
to the year 1869. 

It will readily be perceived, if the temperature con- 
tinues to increase at the same rate, then at some depth, 
all the materials that compose our earth, would be found 
in a state of fusion, and so far, theorists, without further in- 
vestigationin this direction, have adopted this conclusion, 
notwithstanding these mining explorations, and artesian 
wells have been mostly made upon high lands, and very 
few to any great extent, below the sea-level. They have 
found as great an increase of temperature, by penetrat- 
ing the earth in mountain ranges, and in localities very 
far above the level of the sea, it having gone up with 
the same rapidity, as in less elevated portions of the 
country; so we discover this rapid increase could not de- 
pend exactly upon its approximation to any great inter- 
nal reservoir of heated materials, for it was found that 
in deep soundings in the ocean, the water was colder, as 
we approached the sea bottom, and in some instances 
this has been found five, six, and even seven miles 
below the sea-level. Prof. Maury marks upon his chart 
of soundings, one place, 6,600 fathoms or 39,600 feet, 
and we learn, that no boring had been made previous 
to 1869, over 2,200 feet, or considerably less than one 
half mile. While the ocean had given us access to a 
point 37,000 feet nearer this terrible imaginary furnace, 
and that tremendous depth failed to present any indica- 
tions of increasing temperature, but, on the contrary, 
the warmer water was at the top. 

We discover if the law had held good, the whole 
waters of the ocean would be at the boiling point, and 



82 IGXEOUS THEOPwY. 

all would eventually pass off, and be held suspended in 
the form of vapor, as we are told they were in the early 
stages of the earth's history. The advocates of this 
theory, have with great care and labor, compiled tables 
showing accurately, the depth of different mir.es, and 
artesian borings, in order to show, as they supposed, con- 
clusively, that such law was universal, but unfortunately, 
they seem to have forgotten that old Ocean had explored 
the earth's crust still deeper than the miner, or the ar- 
tesian borings. 

Prof. Parrot has urged this objection to the internal 
heat theory, and has given the results of most accurate 
observations upon the temperature of the ocean, show- 
ing that it diminishes as we go downwards, rapidly at 
first, and then more slowly, but Prof. Hitchcock objects 
to this idea, and concludes the earth's crust to be as 
thick under the ocean bottom, as under the highest moun- 
tain. We see no reason to suppose that the interior 
surface, if it rests upon this igneous mass, is regulated 
by the surface bottom of the ocean. There can be no 
possibility that any such effect would be produced; but 
the interior would necessarily be smoothed off by the 
attrition of this heated mass. If the internal heat pro- 
duces influences in mines, and at the bottom of arte- 
sian wells, sufficient to prove its own existence, why 
does it not exert the same influence under the depths of 
the ocean? and if so, the temperature would be sufficient 
under the deeper portions to bring lead and other met- 
als to a state of fusion, and if the heat produces no per- 
ceptible influence at the surface in accordance with the 
nice mathematical calculations of Baron Fourier, then 
bow does it produce such marked effects at so little 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 83 

distance from the surface in mines and artesian wells. 
But, since all these estimates have been made, and all 
these conclusions formed, we have obtained data that has 
completely overturned all former calculations, and that 
perfectly corresponds with observations in the depths of 
the ocean. The corporation or citizens of St. Louis, 
Missouri, have sunk an artesian well, to the enormous 
depth of 8,843 1-2 feet, and by so doing, have settled 
. this whole question of increasing temperature, as depth 
increases; so that all arguments of that character, are 
perfectly nugatory, and instead of supporting the idea 
of internal heat, they prove exactly the opposite, and 
establish the theory of internal cold, or, that the basis 
of this superstructure is composed of inactive, frozen, 
negative elements, instead of those that are intensely 
heated, active and positive. Instead of placing as a 
foundation the most positive and active materials, that 
would be constantly making disturbance, the controll- 
ing intelligence has placed there, the most inactive and 
negative, that would lie still, and serve as a basis upon 
which might be reared a superstructure of the more pos- 
itive and active elements. We ask the intelligent read- 
er, which of these two plans would display the greater 
amount of wisdom ? or which would you prefer if you 
proposed to erect a spacious edifice that would require a 
great outlay of capital and labor, and which you desire 
should be permanent and enduring ; would you make 
your foundations of uneasy, active, explosive elements 
that would necessarily be rolling and tumbling about, 
or would you place under your building, materials that 
had within them all the properties of inertia, or lying 
still? I think most architects would choose the quiet 



84 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

materials, and can it be possible that our ordinary me- 
chanics would display greater wisdom than the great 
Mechanic that has had power and wisdom to plan, and 
then control the necessary forces and materials that 
have ultimated in this stupendous world we inhabit, and 
yet we shall see that this grand blunder is only one of 
a series, that are committed by the advocates of the 
great interior fires. 

It was found, in this artesian boring, that the usual 
phenomena of increasing heat attended increasing depth, 
until they had measured 3,029 feet, where the tempera- 
ture was one hundred seven degrees Farenheit. If we may 
suppose the temperature at the surface sixty-seven de- 
grees, this would make forty degrees difference, or an 
average increase of about one degree for seventy-five 
feet, however it is probable, if they had made a tabular 
statement of temperatures, as the boring progressed 
they would have found a more rapid rise, during the 
first 2,000 feet, and no doubt it would have coincided 
with other wells that have been sunk to that distance, in 
various parts of the world. 

It is highly probable that the last 500 feet of the 
3,000, would have shown but little, if any increase of 
temperature, and it is of no little importance, that means 
should be used at some future time, to ascertain the 
range at frequent points, from the surface to the lowest 
level, as this well so materially unsettles a great number 
of the carefully made estimates of the scientific world. 
It is unfortunate that more frequent thermometrical 
observations were not made and noted, but such as have 
been recorded, prove most conclusively some very im- 
portant facts, and one is, that the highest temperature 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 85 

of one hundred and seven degrees, was found a little 
over 3,000 feet in depth, and there can be no doubt, at 
about that distance, there is a long range where the tem- 
perature varies but little; so we may safely conclude 
that near this point the increasing heat of the earth ter- 
minates; a change takes place, and it very gradually 
subsides ; as they found at 3,127 feet, one hundred six de- 
grees or a falling of one degree. No other observation 
is noted, until at 3,827 feet, the instrument marked one 
hundred and five degrees, thus the temperature dimin- 
ished two degrees in eight hundred feet, but we doubt 
not if observations had been made more frequently, they 
might perhaps have found a temperature even more than 
one hundred and seven degrees, above 3,000 feet. 

Taking their very meagre record, we arrive at the 
fact that the temperature changes at a depth approx- 
imating 3,000 feet, and from thence downwards a grad- 
ual decrease has been actually found of two degrees in 
eight hundred feet. Now, if we should estimate this 
declination of temperature at twelve degrees to the mile,, 
we shall discover that about nine miles from the surface, 
will be found a temperature, somewhat below zero; and 
doubtless, we should find from thence downwards, the 
foundations of this globe, in that frozen negative condi- 
tion that will induce them to lie still; until all the great, 
destined changes can take place upon and near the 
surface, that have been provided for in the vast pro- 
gramme of the world's past and future history. 

We trust a careful study of the principles presented 
in this work, upon which globes must necessarily be con- 
structed, will be a sufficient explanation of the foregoing 
phenomena of increasing heat beneath the earth's sur- 



86 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

face. We now propose to notice the comparative mag- 
nitude of this immense interior furnace of glowing heat. 
We learn that this crust contains very nearly one thirty- 
fifth part of the entire solid contents of the globe, and 
there yet remains thirty-four times as much material to 
be cooled and solidified, as that which has already passed 
through this process, and we must necessarily conclude 
that interminable eternities would pass away before this 
vast amount of fiery materials can be rendered of use, 
if ever; as all heat must be radiated through the exte- 
rior solidified crust, and Fourier has by nice mathemat- 
ical demonstration discovered, that in consequence of 
the oxygenated condition of this outer covering, it be- 
comes so bad a conductor of heat, that not sufficient 
would be radiated to melt ten feet of ice in one hundred 
years; that is about one inch per annum. 

If such is the fact, and this great furnace exists with- 
in this comparatively frail enclosure, then it must so ex- 
ist to all eternity, for it cannot radiate even now, suffi- 
cient heat to make any perceptible difference in its 
magnitude, and if its outer covering should increase in 
thickness, its radiations must continuously diminish, so 
we discover that the mass of igneous matter cannot be 
to any considerable extent progressive, but an eternal 
fixture. This great amount of valuable world material 
that might have been so useful in the manufacture of 
other globes, is eternally locked up within this; and 
mu8l remain there perpetually, without subserving any 
of those divine uses, for which matter seems to exist; 
and to which it seems bo universally applied. 

These philosophers have been prodigal and reckless in 
their extravagant waste of materials, out of which 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 87 

worlds are constructed upon higher mechanical principles, 
by incomprehensible wisdom, and we defy them to tell 
us, of what possible utility, this great burning mass can 
be in the interior of the globe, locked up forever, or to 
show in any manner how it can be of any practical ben- 
efit, and further, we say they have not proved that it is 
there, but merely inferred such might be the fact, in 
view of certain external phenomena. 

The human mind is so constituted in its organism that 
there are limits to its intellectual grasp; for instance, 
we have no power that will enable us to lay hold of all 
this universe at once, not even of this globe; it is too 
large to be encompassed by the mind's eye, at a single 
glance. If we wish to get a comprehensive view of 
these stupendous objects in a brief space of time, we 
must bring them down and present their forms in nar- 
rower limits ; and, hence, if we can diminish this globe, 
and place it before our vision, we can get a clearer view 
of this whole matter. If we construct a globe, or sphere 
of eighty inches in diameter, instead of 8,000 miles, 
then we. can see it at once; and we shall find that the 
relative thickness of the crust of such a globe, would be 
four-tenths of an inch. We may now choose our mate- 
rial, and form that crust, and place within its hollow, 
liquid fire, at 7,000 degrees heat, which, says Prof. 
Hitchcock, is just sufficient to melt all the materials of 
the rocks. I think we could not find an intelligent per- 
son who would not arrive at the conclusion that the shell 
would soon become a liquid mass also, as its entire con- 
tents are only one thirty-fifth part of the fire within. 

We may now increase the diameter of our small globe, 
and make it eighty miles, instead of eighty inches; and 



88 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

we shall then have a shell of four-tenths of a mile, or 
about 2,112 feet in thickness, which would contain an 
orb of this intensely heated lava, of over seventy-nine 
miles in diameter, with this thin crust of solidified gran- 
ite to resist its overwhelming influences. 

Which can we suppose will gain the victory; these ter- 
ribly raging elementary fire billows within, or this feeble 
crust that encloses and holds them in check ; and if the 
great mass of liquid fire is sufficiently heated to hold in 
fusion the granite, then, of course, it would melt all the 
granite contiguous. We trust that every one of these 
philosophers will be compelled to admit that a shell of 
2,112 feet in thickness, would be entirely insufficient to 
resist the influences of such an enormous quantity of 
the most heated, active and explosive elements in this 
universe, and all we have to do, is to multiply these num- 
bers by one hundred, and we have our world, 8,000 miles 
in diameter, with a crust 211.200 feet or forty miles in 
thickness, with a vast interior globe of intensely heated 
material, over 7,900 miles in diameter, and thirty-five 
times larger, in solid contents than the frail crust by 
which it is enclosed. 

It is difficult to conceive of an idea more repugnant to 
our natures, or one more horrifying to contemplate: it 
is so much so indeed, that we cannot be brought to sup- 
pose that the author of such a structure, so at war with 
all that is within us. could have produced intelligent be- 
il gs also, and called all together one harmonious whole. 
SikIi has not been our experience, for as far as we have 
been permitted to look out into the great arcanum, we 
have found all, beautiful and natural, and in perfect ac- 
cord with every faculty placed within our own organism, 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 89 

and this is one of the means we have given us, by which 
we may discriminate and judge between truth and error. 
Truth is always beautiful and harmonious, because it is 
a part of ourselves; if we are a part of all, and we must 
be, in order to be a microcosm. We cannot, if we credit 
any amount of knowledge or mechanical genius to the 
builder of this world, suppose for a moment, that this 
vast interior which might easily be fitted up so grandly 
and beautifully, and subserve the glorious purpose of 
producing and sustaining human intelligence; that the 
great house of all living, that exhibits such Divine wis- 
dom and constructive skill, has been so miserably de- 
faced, and ruined interiorly, by being filled brimming 
full of incandescent lava. 

We pass for the present, a consideration of the sup- 
posed igneous formation of the granite rocks, and come 
up to that period, where it is said in consequence of 
great internal heat, the earth's surface produced a won- 
derful prolific growth of vegetation of gigantic propor- 
tions, such as enormous tree-ferns, calamites, sigillaria, 
and numerous varieties that have left their fossil remains 
on top of the Devonian, and immediately below the coal 
formation. 

There is no doubt but this gigantic vegetation existed; 
the only question to be considered is, was it produced or 
in any way influenced by a vast internal fire? was it 
germinated and brought into existence, and was this 
enormous growth of those numerous extinct species, in- 
duced in any manner by this internal heat? and again, 
is this enormous growth and accumulation of vegetables 
and semi-ligneous products, the material from which 
the bituminous and anthracite coal of a later period have 



90 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

formed? If so, these accumulated forests must, at a 
subsequent period have formed vast coalpits arranged in 
such a manner that the woody- fibres could not be re- 
duced to ashes, but changed into lignites, then into bitu- 
minous coal, and finally much of it by the action of 
great heat, into anthracite, and some of it into plum- 
bago. Very learned men seem to entertain this opinion, 
and it might be folly to dissent, but it would seem that 
some objections may be offered. It appears that 
this immense flora was found upon the top of a very ex- 
tensive formation, which is still above another of fossil- 
iferous rocks that had been the residence of organic liv- 
ing beings for untold ages before this growth existed. 

Prof. Hitchcock makes the Paleozoic stratifications 
below it, 68.000 feet in possible thickness, from the 
top of the Devonian to the bottom of the Silurian, all 
filled with the fossil remains of animal life; and the dif- 
ficulty seems to be, not to produce the extensive growl li 
of vegetation, but to obtain the amount of heat from the 
internal source that would transform these forests into 
bituminous and anthracite coal, and still permit the ex- 
istence of vegetable and animal life to continue. As it 
is supposed that a heat sufficient to produce even char- 
coal, would not be conducive to a healthy growth of 
either vegetable or animal organizations; and it is very 
evident that many long ages previous to the coal period, 
when the crust must have been very much thinner, these 
forms of life existed and flourished, as all the paleozoic 
rocks testify, even to the bottom of the Silurian or Cam- 
brian. There certainly could have been no paroxysms 
of heat ; "whatever heat came from such a source, must of 
necessity, have been uniform and continuous, and the 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 91 

cooling of the erust, an d its subsequent changes must 
have been under such circumstances, steady and progres- 
sive; for the same amount of heat continued, with the 
very trifling diminution, ascertained by Fourier and oth- 
ers. We perceive after we had got the crust so cooled 
down as to produce vegetable and animal life, it would 
be impossible many ages after that, to get. up a heat 
strong enough with the crust somewhat thickened, to 
produce a universal coal-pit, and change all these grand, 
ante-carboniferous forests of tree-ferns, lepidodendra,etc, 
into bituminous and anthracite coal. We think in our 
researches, we shall be compelled to look in some other 
direction for the causes of the great coal fields that now 
supply our manufactories, steamboats and dwellings 
with their required fuel. 

What reason have we to suppose after there had been 
only the necessary heat for many long ages," to sustain 
the healthy growth of vegetable and animal organized 
life, that there should suddenly be a rise in the temper- 
ature, sufficient to change all of nature's products into 
anthracite, and thus continue until all the coal stratifi- 
cations were produced, from 2,000 to 13,000 feet in 
depth, for such is declared by geological authority, to 
be the possible thickness of the carboniferous formations. 
We shall discover also, that while this process of coal- 
burning was going on, if caused by an internal heat, 
sufficient to change all this vast amount of woody fibre 
to coal, such as is found in the various mines, all produc- 
tion of vegetable and animal life, must have been en- 
tirely suspended, and have so remained; and this sus- 
pension of their existence, would have continued until 
the temperature became so reduced that they might be 



92 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 



able to live and perform their proper functions ; for cer- 
tainly it does not require any great stretch of learning, 
or intelligence to discover that a heat produced by a 
general cause, that must necessarily be universal upon 
all portions of the surface of the globe, sufficient to burn 
a coal-pit, would be very unhealthy for animal or veg- 
etable products, and would render their continuance ut- 
terly impossible. As nature in all her great book, dis- 
closes no indications of any such cessation of animal 
and vegetable organic life, we must conclude no such 
period of suspension has existed in the earth's history. 

The so-called sacred historian when he proposed to 
destroy the inhabitants of the earth, by a great flood, 
provided as he thought ample means for the escape of 
the male and female of all the different species of an- 
imals, that they might be propagated after the catastro- 
phe. But where could have been found an ark of safety 
for all these different species that would have rescued 
them from the melting influences of that lengthy, an- 
thracite-burning period, when caloric reigned supreme, 
and smoke and blackness covered the wide landscape 
and all was one dark scene of desolation and death. 

Such must have been the carboniferous period, if, 
this geological view is correct, and if these vast Devon- 
ian forests were converted into coal by the influence of 
the great reservoir of internal heat, and those stirring 
scenes of life and animation that must have existed dur- 
ing the growth of that immense flora and peculiar fauna 
were succeeded by universal destruction. If so, nature 
must have been compelled once more, to reproduce thoso 
forms before all the wheels of the great machine could 
have rolled on smoothly again, in the performance of 



IGNEOUP THEORY. 93 

their great duties. It is extremely difficult upon this 
hypothesis, to aceount for those paroxysmal changes of 
temperature, that produced such widely different results ; 
first, the gigantic vegetable, and the varied animal or- 
ganizations, then the intensely heated carboniferous, 
and a little later, the wonderful glacial period, which 
formations evidently covered a large portion of the tem- 
perate zones, and were finally succeeded by a more 
genial and milder climate that continues till the present 
time. The most eminent scientific men who have lived, 
are entirely unable to offer a reason, why so large a por- 
tion of the earth, at a particular period, as is conclu- 
sively proven, was covered with vast fields of ice, of a 
great thickness, for very many ages. 

In connection with this subject, the reader will do 
well to keep in view, the great fact, that there are well 
known opposing elements which mingle with, and per- 
meate throughout the earth, and all its appertainings; 
that certain of these elements exist from the inmost cen- 
tral portions of this physical superstructure, to the farth- 
est verge of its atmospheric surroundings, all perform- 
lug their proper functions; that they are distributed 
where they are most needed to carry out their purposes, 
and that each one of these positive and negative powers, 
such as life and death, heat and cold, light and darkness, 
activity and repose, expansion and contraction, magnet- 
ism and electricity, occupy their own particular realm ; 
that the positives have an intimate relationship, one with 
the other, and are connec ed together by a curiously ar- 
ranged affinitizing principle, and that the negatives are 
arranged upon the opposing side, and sustain a similar 
relationship one to another. Thus we have cold, dark- 



94 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

ness death, inactivity, sleep or repose, contraction 
and electricity, all affinitizing to the grosser molecular 
structure of the mineral kingdom; their original home, 
is down in the depths far below life and light, activity 
and expansion, caloric and magnetism, because it will be 
seen that the more active and disturbing elements can 
not with safety be admitted to the interior of our earth; 
but they must have their abiding place near the super- 
fices, so as not to endanger by their activities, and dis- 
turbing tendencies, the entire fabric ; for we may easily 
ascertain where death and darkness hold their court 
and where sleep and inactivity find an eternal resting 
place, all locked up in the frigid embrace of a cold, that 
knows no change ; in the rigors of her frozen temper- 
ature, there can be no disturbance. We shall see upon 
investigation, the absolute necessity of placing static 
instead of dynamic forces, in the most interior portions 
of the earth, however those portions may be arranged, 
whether in a solid globe or spherical shell. 

Where nature requires all the elements of eternal rest 
and stability, where the negative forces are most needed 
which are contented to remain in undisturbed repose 
through the everlasting ages, that a world may be safely 
constructed upon them as a foundation that shall prove 
sure and steadfast, modern science has placed an over- 
whelming amount of the most active, uneasy, terribly 
disturbing elements — a huge mass of intensely heated 
material. We might as well have erected our imposing 
national capital ui on the back of a monster, turtle 
would equal the State of Virginia, 
with all the elements of activity contained within him, 
and then have de] osited overwhelming quantities of ni- 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 95 

tro-glycerine, and other equally powerful explosives be- 
neath its walls, and every where about its foundations, 
and expected the edifice to be as enduring as time, as to 
have constructed our earth upon such an uncertain basis 
as the igneous theorists have placed under its solid bat- 
tlements and towers. 

Hence, in the central regions of the earthy shell, be- 
tween the exterior and interior portions, eternal night 
and cold, inactivity and death, hold, and exercise supreme 
authority, that a grand superstructure may be erected 
upon them with security, because there can be no possi- 
ble disturbances in the depths below, that will endanger 
the fabric. For the spiritual entities that are locked up 
in the embrace of these frigid material atoms, are en- 
joying their everlasting sleep, after eternities of wake- 
fulness and activity, and are preparing for their resur- 
rection in the eternities of the future. They are there 
because they have chosen that position of repose, and 
do not wish to be disturbed, and it is perfectly safe to 
build a world upon such a basic element, that has be- 
come in the mutations of eternal cycles, the very quint- 
essence of inertia and death. We not only have the 
analogies existing in the universe, eliminated by thought 
and patient research to depend upon, in support of the 
idea of cold, inactive, interior elements in this globular 
shell, but as we have said, fortunately the energies and 
activities of the people of St. Louis, have also come to 
our aid, and by boring a well to such an enormous depth 
in that city, have conclvsively proved, that, after a depth 
of 3,000 feet has been attained, the temperature begins 
gradually to grow colder. 

The advocates of the igneous theory, seized with avid- 



96 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

ity, upon the fact that the temperature increased as we 
penetrated the earth's crust, thus proving conclusively 
to their minds, that at a given point, we must attain a 
heat that would melt the most refractory rocks, and leave 
all things in a state of fusion. But it appears they have 
reckoned without their host. Their estimates, unfortu- 
nately for their theory, have been based upon entirely 
too shallow borings, all of them less than 2,200 feet, and 
they were as ignorant of the temperature below that 
depth as the schoolboy, and the strongest evidence they 
brought to bear to prove the existence of the great in- 
ternal fire, when extended a little farther into the depths 
of the earth, established most conclusively, the opposite 
doctrine of eternal, frozen death and inactivity. And 
there can be no doubt from the data obtained at the St. 
Louis artesian well, that at the distance of twelve or fif- 
teen miles, the temperature is at least two hundred de- 
grees below zero, the same as it is supposed to be out in 
the regions of space, beyond the farthest verge of the 
atmosphere. Hence, we may expect to realize all the 
changes of temperature, in passing from the interior 
portions of the globular shell, upwards to the surface, 
and then to the extent of the atmosphere of our earth, 
going through the entire strata of organic life, and 
finding, as we might naturally conclude, the central por- 
tions of this extent, most productive of these living or- 
ganizations; because all the positive, active elements that 
are required to produce and sustain such living organ- 
isms, exist in greater abundance, and are diffused far 
more extensively, in and through those portions contig- 
uous* to the earth's surface. Here is where the positive 
elements of light and heat exist in their most elab- 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 97 

orated and perfected condition, and here is produced 
life and animation, in all their varied forms ; and we 
plainly see it would have been but a reckless waste of 
those positive materials to have kept them locked up in 
the interior of the earth to all eternity. 

We will simply observe in relation to these deep art- 
esian borings, and the facts gathered therefrom, that 
what has in accordance with modern scientific opinions 
been so universally brought to bear by the advocates of 
the igneous theory, supporting their views concerning the 
internal heat, now proves far more conclusively, and far 
more in harmony with phenomenal facts, the existence 
of universal, internal cold. Herschell, LaPlace, and oth- 
ers, have placed a terribly unwieldy, unmanageable and 
turbulent elephant, or a beast with ten million times 
seven heads and ten horns, within the interior of our 
globe, and their endorsers, are now saying to this huge 
beast, "Peace, be still," while they may enter into in- 
tricate mathematical computations, and discover what 
the result might be, of a little activity upon the part of 
the animal. 

We are told by these savans, that he produces all the 
disturbing phenomena in the form of volcanoes and 
earthquakes that are known upon the earth's surface, 
that he produces the wonderful heat of Thermal springs 
and Solfataras, also the great increase in the temper- 
ature of artesian wells, ejects all the substances thrown 
from the craters, sometimes to immense distances from 
their mouths, causing all the vibrations and quiverings 
of the earth, during its most terrific convulsions, and 
ye.t they have ascertained that the heat is so firmly en* 
closed within its boundaries, by the oxygen in the outer 
9 



98 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

crust, that it does not radiate sufficient to melt scarcely 
an inch of ice, in a single year. If so, then intermin- 
able millions of eternities, must pass away before this 
great monster can be removed, as we must discover that 
a body of incandescent material over 7,900 miles in 
diameter, at a heat of more than 7,000 degrees, that does 
not part with sufficient, during the year to melt an inch 
of ice, must remain as nearly as possible in a static con- 
dition, and eternities might pass away before it would 
lose enough to be perceptible to the human comprehen- 
sion. 

Hence, we discover that the cooling process, and the 
consequent formation of granite, or igneous rocks upon 
the interior surface, is very nearly suspended, for this 
great mass cannot possibly cool, unless it radiates or 
parts with its heat, and it cannot form into rock, unless 
it cools, and we discover by the calculations of Fourier, 
that this process has very nearly ceased its operations, 
and that, consequently, the exterior crust has attained 
very nearly its ultimate thickness, as there can be no 
appreciable change for thousands of ages to come, and 
if this internal heat is a fact, and the calculations cor- 
rect, concerning its almost infinitessimal quantity of ra- 
diation, then we may consider the crust practically fin- 
ished, and that henceforward, all the interior will re- 
main in nearly a fixed condition, and the reflective mind 
cannot certainly entertain a very exalted admiration for 
a divine architect who would leave a world in such a 
condition. 

Their theory would lock up within the embraces of 
the granite bonds, that holds the monster in durance, 
an amount of material, thirty-five times greater than the 



IGNEOUS THEORY. 99 

crust, or the matter from which it is composed ; and there 
they propose to let it remain to all eternity, in useless 
inactivity. They say this mass contains nearly all the 
active elements in the world, sufficiently evolved to pro- 
duce all the disturbances that are witnessed upon the 
surface; and yet they can hold it so quietly, that no one 
could discover that it has an existence. They say that 
the mineral kingdom has been evolved out of a portion 
of this same material, yet it cannot produce much more 
after this, because it is not radiating an amount of heat 
sufficient to cool any portion of the mass, worth men- 
tioning, and it must necessarily cool before it changes 
into granite rock. 

They say it is primeval, unevolved, homogeneous 
matter, and yet it is so far elaborated as to furnish all 
the various substances that are ejected at different times, 
from the belching mouths of the numerous volcanoes. 
They also say that this internal, incandescent mass of 
fire, so intensely active, has existed eternal ages, re- 
gardless of the great prominent fact, that all positive, 
active elements that are in operation, are exhaustive of 
the forces that produce their activity, that all fires are 
produced by combustion, which can not possibly exist, 
without destroying, or dissolving and wasting the supply 
of materials by which it is fed, and that unless the 
supply is constant, the fires must discontinue, as well in 
the interior, as upon the exterior surface of the earth. 

Geologists have told us precisely how they manufac- 
ture combustible materials from this original, primeval 
mass in the interior, and how they produce all the sub- 
stances that have been ejected from the craters; and yet 
they project forth all these various substances from the 



100 IGNEOUS THEORY. 

great un evolved chaos, under the granite crust, without 
any evolution or manufacturing whatever; and such are 
a few of the absurdities of this theory, and it will not 
be surprising if their exposure should have a tendency 
to diminish our veneration for minds that can endorse 
such extremely short-sighted conclusions, and thus make 
them their own. The reader will doubtless clearly dis- 
cover by this time that there is no aspect in which this 
theory can be presented, but it exhibits a sort of unnat- 
ural deformity, and seems only paralleled by another 
unquenchable fire which was built by our forefathers, 
in which to confine to all eternity, that portion of God's 
children, who did not look at all things with the same 
vision possessed by themselves, and we humbly think the 
day is not far distant, when both these grand delusions, 
together with that disreputable personage who is said to 
have exercised a general supervision over the theolog- 
ically heated dominions, will be consigned to the bottom- 
less pit, and perhaps pass out at the other end, in their 
journey to oblivion. 



CHAP. IV. 



VOLCANOES. 



Among tne various superficial phenomena upon our 
globe, perhaps, none have attracted more attention than 
volcanoes; being so prominently marked in their features 
and characteristics, and sometimes so destructive in 
their influences, and withall, so difficult to be fully un- 
derstood, it is not surprising they should have been so 
carefully studied by men of scientific attainments. 

It would appear that it has quite generally been sup- 
posed that the igneous theory was the solution of the 
great problem, and that in these vast internal fires, could 
be found sufficient cause for all the external disturb- 
ances, and sufficient material to supply all the vomitings 
of those huge mountain throats ; and upon that difficult 
subject at the present, science seems to be at rest; how- 
ever, there are some persons that are always raising ob- 
jections to well settled opinions, and thus the world 
moves onward. 

These volcanoes are supposed to be vent holes or chim- 
neys that reach from the surface to the great fire within, 
contrived for the purpose of safety valves that may per- 
mit any surplus gasses or dangerous elements to escape, 
as there can be no doubt that such an immense amount 
of active, positive materials in a state of constant surg- 
ing and ebullition, might produce some disturbances, if 
pent up for long ages, without any such vent holes. We 
think no one will hesitate to admit, that a globe of molt- 



102 VOLCANOES, 

$n lava, that has a superficial area of nearly- 200,060,- 
000 square miles, and a heat of over 7,000 degrees Fah- 
renheit, and only enclosed by a frail crust of about forty 
miles in depth, would require at least all the open chim- 
neys that are known to exist in the shape of active vol- 
canoes upon the globe. It is supposed that in eai'lier 
times, when the crust was thinner, and the fire orb a lit- 
tle larger, and, perhaps, more active, volcanoes w r ere far 
more numerous than at the present; in fact, that they 
numbered hundreds, if not thousands to one, and that 
vastly more chimneys or vent holes were needed than at 
present; that the crust has now become so extremely 
thick, and the internal fire so diminished, that a very 
limited number of these chimneys will answer all the 
purposes required, as it will be seen that we have only 
two hundred and twenty-five of these safeguards left, 
and they are mostly inactive, except at long intervals; 
in fact, there are not over four or five continuously ac- 
tive volcanoes upon the globe. Others are in a state of 
eruption, more or less frequently, varying from a few 
months to 1,700 years. 

It is extremely difficult for us to determine, why this 
internal globe of fire should be so much less forcible in 
its demonstrations at present than it was ages since, or 
why these volcanoes seem to occur in ranges, and leave, 
such very large tractsof territory entirely destitute of the 
needed vent hoies. It would seem to an ordinary mind, 
that these safety valves should have been more regularly 
distributed, if they are used for that purpose, and not 
so confined to particular localities. Suppose now these 
amazingly active elements in the interior, should become 
disturbed directly under Chicago or Northern Illinois, 



VOLCANOES. 103 

where would they find the most accessible chimney or 
safety valve; for aught we can see, any explosive element 
that might be generated directly under that great city, 
would be compelled to travel to Mexico, or the Aleutian 
Isles, or to Mount Heela in Ireland, in order to escape. 

It certainly seems to be a question, whether such 
elements would be willing to go so far out of their way, 
to accommodate any portion of the outside world. We 
cannot by any process of reasoning, discover why it be- 
came necessary to place Vesuvius, iEtna, and Strom- 
boli, and other volcanoes, all upon so contracted an area 
while such large extents of territory, embracing very 
many millions of square miles, are entirely destitute of 
these escapes or vents, if the cause that produces and 
renders them necessary, is universal, and comes in 
immediate contact with the under surface of the thin 
crust every where alike, upon every square mile of this 
entire globe. 

We cannot help thinking that a supremely intelligent 
architect, if he had placed within the rocky crust, a 
universal element of disturbance, that required aper- 
tures through to the exterior, for the escape of danger- 
ous gasses, or explosive elements, would have distribut- 
ed those apertures in a more orderly manner, so that all 
portions of the globe might be rendered equally safe 
from exposure to those dangerous elements. But as 
these chimneys are so partially distributed, so few in 
number, and so generally inactive, we shall be compelled 
to concede, they do not subserve any such purpose, and 
that there is no universal cause of that kind to produce 
elemental disturbances. 

If there is a general cause that produces volcanoes in 



104 VOLCANOS. 

accordance with the igneous theory, and these chimneys 
or craters extend downward entirely through the crust, 
what powerful influence has resulted in the extinction of 
ihe very large proportion of those that ever had an 
existence? as they are said to number a hundred to one 
ihat is now called active. What has closed up these 
deep vent holes? what circumstance has transpired in 
the earth's history, rendering it unimportant, that this 
vast number of ancient vent holes should be still kept 
open? while all the causes for which they were first 
opened, are in full and vigorous activity. For what 
purpose has the fires of those inactive and dead volcan- 
oes been extinguished, and in what manner has this won- 
derful feat been accomplished? 

A partial reply has been made to this query by Prof. 
Denton, an able geologist, in a recent work, and doubt- 
less he is fully competent to give to the world, the most 
advanced thought of the scientific minds of the age, 
upon the subjects of which he speaks in his book. He 
very gravely tells us, that, as a large portion of the act- 
ual volcanoes, are contiguous to the sea shore, most 
probably those that are extinct were similarly situated, 
and that nature has at sometime provided some aperture, 
through which the waters of the ocean, might communi- 
cate with the crater, and extinguish the flames. To 
prove that he is serious, and to make himself more def- 
inite, upon this point he says in an article treating upon 
the general development and harmonious completion of 
the physical globe, that earthquake- and volcanic erup- 
tions, must ultimately cease to afflict mankind with their 
convulsive throes, and their terrific explosions, and, that 
if those great physical disturbances are not quieted by 



VOLCANOES. 105 

the silent processes continuously operating in the realms 
of nature, then at some day in the future, the ingenuity 
and daring of some bold, energetic men will be brought 
to bear, and they will contrive means that will put a final 
damper upon the fires of those belching monsters. 

He further intimates that he doubts not there are 
men in New England, to-day, who would for a suitable 
compensation, undertake to execute and construct a sub- 
terranean tunnel, from the Mediterranean to Mount Ve- 
suvius, open that monster chinmey, which has so many 
times vomited forth a portion of the contents of the vast 
furnace below, to the great terror of the inhabitants, 
and destruction of the surrounding country, and that 
they would thus be able to introduce a stream of water 
of sufficient magnitude to lick up and quench those 
eternal fires that have from time to time given activity 
to that famous volcano. Our author must either be seri- 
ous, or else he is playing upon the credulity of his read- 
ers, and as his work has an extensive circulation, it may 
be well to notice his view of the matter. We are all 
somewhat familiar with steam boiler explosions and their 
terrible effects, and have some idea of the cause of these 
often calamitous occurrences, and that generally, by 
careless or incompetent engineers, the injector becomes 
obstructed, the water gets low, and an increasing amount 
of caloric is accumulated in the boiler, and it is a well 
known fact that steam boilers are extensive generators 
of electricity, and it is a fact, which should be known, 
that electricity will dissolve particles of caloric, and re- 
lease magnetism, and when you have these two powers 
confined in your boiler, in sufficient quantities, no 
amount of iron, or bolts, or rivets, will resist their influ- 



106 VOLCANOES. 

ences, and you must have an explosion. It would be 
well if this subject was better understood, and the req- 
uisite safeguards placed in all steam boilers which would 
render an explosion simply impossible. 

His theory contemplates a volume of molten lava in 
the bowels of this earth at a depth of forty miles from 
the exterior surface, of prodigious extent and inconceiv- 
able heat, and he proposes to introduce streams of cold 
water to the kindly embraces of this enormous mass of 
incandescent lava through these volcanic chimneys-, and 
gravely says that nature has pursued this method in 
quenching the fires of those that are already extinct. 

He concludes we maysafely send down into that huge 
reservoir of explosive elements, any quantity of the neg- 
ative power called electricity in its diluted form, as it is 
found in water, in order to extinguish the remaining 
volcanoes, thus bringing those antagonistic forces into 
immediate contact in the bowels of the earth, in contin- 
uously increasing quantities; and, if our friend can suc- 
ceed in accomplishing that purpose, we had better com- 
mence saying our prayers, for the whole fabric will bo 
blown into fragments, in less time than is usually occu- 
pied in the performance of that interesting ceremony. 
He is pouring down a constant supply of cold water into 
this terribly heated furnace, manufacturing, by the com- 
mingling of these opposing elements, Electro-Magnet- 
ism, with tremendous rapidity, and in this manner, he 
will have sufficient of those fluid elements which are the 
most terrible forces in nature, to destroy this globe in a 
very brief space of time. 

It cannot be doubted that by proper engineering, and 
the requisite amount of labor, a communication might 



VOLCANOES. 107 

be made between the waters of the Mediterranean and 
the crater of Mount Vesuvius, of sufficient capacity to 
let down a large amount of water, and if this crater or 
chimney continues down and opens into any such vast 
chamber, as our author describes, we cannot doubt the 
result either; for in less time than I can pen this sen- 
tence, the vine-clad hills, the cities and villages, and 
pleasant homes of the population of all that portion of 
Italy, would be torn to fragments, and to say the least, 
that section of the interior fire orb, would be brought 
into immediate contact with the waters of the exterior 
surface, and I leave the reader to imagine the sequel. 

And yet, by these means, our learned author con- 
cludes the fires of all those numerous dead volcanoes 
have been extinguished, and for this cause, they have 
ceased their activity. It is a well known fact that very 
many volcanoes have made iheir appearance in the midst 
of the sea, raising up islands, and producing the usual 
phenomena, and it will be seen that if the great interior 
fire is the all-producing cause, then an opening would of 
course be made between the bottom of the ocean, and 
the great interior heated mass, and there would be 
nothing to hinder the waters from going down these 
chimneys in overwhelming torrents, thus causing an 
explosive power that would be utterly destructive of all 
terrestrial things. Can any sane person doubt when 
an opening is made under the bottom of any part of the 
ocean, by subterranean disturbance, or by an explosion 
of any of those dangerous elements that have collected 
beneath, or from any cause whatever, that the waters 
do rush in and fill up the vacancy, and that this is the 



108 VOLCANOES. 

great efficient reason why such disturbances are of such 
short duration. 

Is it possible that philosophers and scientific men who 
are supposed to possess superior mental abilities, can 
calculate with confidence to stay such overwhelmingly 
terrific sourc s of volcanic action, by directing small 
streams of water into the craters of the few that re- 
main in activity, and also claim that such has been the 
process by which nature has extinguished the fires of 
those of the past, that are now silent and dead, which 
number as thousands, to the tens that still continue ac- 
tive. However desirable it may be, in accordance with 
the eternal laws of progressive development, which seem 
to permeate all things existing in our world, and in the 
universe, that earthquakes should cease to overthrow 
cities, terrify the people and destroy human life,and, that 
volcanoes should no more send forth their huge volumes of 
blackening smoke and lurid flames, and vomit from their 
bowels the turbid rivers of scorching lava, to the terror 
and dismay of the surrounding inhabitants; } r et, we shall 
without doubt be compelled to witness their continued 
operations, until the great producing cause can be re- 
moved. If that cause is so vast and wonderfully ex- 
tensive in its proportions, as to occupy, at the present 
time, after all the diminution of the past ages, thirty- 
four thirty-fifths of the solid contents of this entire 
globe, then the human mind cannot by any possibility, 
enter into a computation concerning the length of time 
that must elapse, before the cause of these unpleasant 
phenomena, shall cease its operations, and its results be 
no more experienced. 

When we talk of extinguishing volcanoes, if it means 



VOLCANOES. 109 

anything, it means to quench all those fires, and remove 
all those influences, of whatsoever nature, that are pro- 
ductive of such effects; it means an entire bar to the op- 
eration of all causes that have hitherto ultimated in vol- 
canic action, and then, of course, such effects may be 
expected to cease, and not before. There is not an in- 
telligent man who stops to reflect, who can suppose 
nine-tenths of all the original volcanoes have ceased 
their activity, under any of the circumstances contem- 
plated by the igneous theory; but, on the contrary, they 
must conclude, that the causes that produced those which 
are extinct, must have ceased to exist, and that all the 
resources from whence their surging fires were drawn, 
have been dried up, and the fountains removed, else they 
would continue in the same state of activity. If the ig- 
neous theory is a truth, the cause that originates the very 
few remaining volcanoes, still occupies, with its raging, 
infuriated burnings, an overwhelming proportion of the 
entire solid contents of the globe, and this cause was but 
one thirty-fifth greater in volume, when it was one en- 
tire volcano from circumference to center, and, can we 
conceive that this immense mass which must contain all 
the antagonistic forces, all the explosive elements and 
furies that exhibit themselves in this living, moving 
world, and that then demanded the whole exterior sur- 
face upon which to expend and exercise their violent ac- 
tivities, can be quieted, tamed down, and rendered com- 
paratively docile, by simply reducing its volume, or con- 
tracting its solid contents so very little, and then inclos- 
ing the remaining active portion within a comparatively 
frail and feeble crust, provided with a few scattered 
breathing holes? 
10 



110 VOLCANOS. 

It is evidently great folly and stupidity, to form any 
such conclusion, for if this universal disturbing cause is 
only diminished by so small a part, then, there must of 
course, remain nearly the same amount of antagonistic 
influences, to exercise their dangerous explosive activ- 
ities, as originally existed; and they would necessarily 
require nearly the same amount of room in which to op- 
erate; yet, our modern philosophers have closed up and 
hedged in the internal, monster forces, with fragile 
bands, and barely allow them to come to the surface oc- 
casionally, to get breath through a few r chimney tops, 
and then send them back to repose for ages in the arms 
of a quiet sleep. 

We would not devote so much time to this theory, but 
for the fact that it has been originated and elaborated 
by men occupying very eminent positions in scientific 
circles, and, that it has been endorsed, and advocated by 
the large majority of the learned of the present day, 
so much so, that it has almost become philosophical her- 
esy to entertain a doubt concerning its substantial truth. 
The igneous theory has been for many years before the 
bar of public opinion, pronounced upon by the great 
and the learned, and adopted as orthodox — but we have 
the temerity to consider it, one of the grandest delu- 
sions, if not to say humbugs, that was ever presented to 
the civilized world, in the shape of a scientific conclu- 
sion; and we doubt not, the day will speedily arrive, 
when developments shall be made that will ultimate in 
the explosion of this fallacy, and that it will only be re- 
membered by future generations as the baseless fabric 
of a vision, like a thousand other crude notions that 



VOLCANOES. Ill 

have been entertained by our ancestors, during tbe ages 
of the past. 

In pursuing our inquiries still further in relation to 
this matter, let us ascertain the nature of those sub- 
stances, that are usually ejected from the craters of vol- 
canoes in a state of eruption. We are told, and no 
doubt truly, that they belch forth "volumes of dense 
smoke, with lurid flames, and ashes in enormous quan- 
tities, cinders, scoria, and mud, steam or aqueous vapor, 
which falls in showers of rain, around the mountain 
slopes, also large quantities of sand and lapilli, a sub- 
stance composed of small stony concretions. Rocks of 
various dimensions that are sometimes very large, are 
thrown to very great distances, and it will be noticed that 
these rocks embrace many very different varieties, from 
the primary up to the later sedimentary formations. 
Also lava in enormous-quantities, and it is somewhat re- 
markable that the lava is not very thoroughly melted." 

Very many instances could be quoted from various 
authors, showing the wonderful amount of the different 
substances that have been from time to time, and in dif- 
ferent parts of the globe, ejected from volcanoes, but, 
it is sufficient for our purpose, to show that these vast 
and varied quantities of material substances, must have 
proceeded from reservoirs, where they severally had an 
existence, for, assuredly, they could not have been brought 
from any place, where such substances did not exist. 

It is also argued by the advocates of the fire theory, 
that if such large quantities of matter, as quite fre- 
quently have been thrown from volcanoes, should be 
taken from the immediate vicinity, or from underneath 
the neighborhood of the crater, then the mountain would 



112 VOLCANOES. 

certainly be swallowed up in the vacancy thus produced, 
and, if no such cases had occurred, the argument would 
be valid and somewhat conclusive. But, as such cases 
have happened quite frequently, they prove most con- 
clusively, that the origin of those volcanoes was located 
at no great distance from themountain that contained the 
crater, from which the eruption proceeded. "In 1772, 
Papandayang, a large volcano in the island of Java, af- 
ter a short and severe eruption, fell in and disappeared, 
over an extent fifteen miles long and six broad, burying 
forty villages. In 1638, the Pic, a volcano in the isle 
of Timor, so high as to be visible three hundred miles, 
disappeared, and its place is now occupied by a lake. 
Many lakes in the south of Italy, are supposed to have 
been thus formed." Whenever submarine volcanoes have 
occurred that have subsequently been extinguished, the 
same result must have followed. The cavity that was 
made by the eruption of matter from beneath, must have 
been filled by the super-incumbent waters, and we dis- 
cover that there must have been some volcanoes that 
had no connection with a great central body of molten 
lava, for if so, the bottom of those lakes would have 
fallen out, and the waters of the ocean would be drained 
through the numerous submarine chimneys, and we leave 
the reader to imagine the succession of explosions, that 
would naturally ensue, until the entire fabric wonld nec- 
essarily be demolished, and all things would return to 
chaotic confusion. If there were no other arguments to 
present, in opposition to this chimney theory, the one 
here offered would be quite conclusive. 

We may now enquire into the nature of this incand- 
escent material, with which the bowels of our earth is 



VOLCANOES. 113 

supposed to be filled, and if possible, ascertain whether 
we can find those several substances that are usually 
ejected from the craters of the numerous volcanoes. 
The nebulous theory pre-supposes, as we have said, an 
original spheroidal globe of cosmical vapor, or world 
material in the most rarified condition ; that, this vast 
orb might have been 100,000,000,000 miles in diameter, 
or that it occupied the entire limits of our solar system, 
and, that by some mysterious means, this vast globe ac- 
quired a motion which resulted in periodically giving 
birth to smaller globes in a singularly unnatural manner. 
Philosophers speak of our solar system as a family of 
planetary bodies; they find the great parent in the cen- 
ter, with children and grand-children revolving around, 
all, more or less dependent, and each one requiring pa- 
rental influences and assistance, to enable them to per- 
form their proper functions. But, we must conclude 
that a search through the entire universe, would fail to 
present to our view, any parents that give birth to their 
children by peeling them from the exterior surface of 
their bodies. However unnatural this process may 
appear, yet, this theory contemplates that the young 
worlds were brought to the birth in that peculiar man- 
ner, and that portions of these vast peelings of world 
matter, hurried up and traveled more rapidly around 
the ring than others,or else must have waited for the bal- 
ance of the ring to arrive, in order to coil up in the form 
of a globe, which, in process of time, condensed and be- 
came intensely heated, and after untold ages, this pri- 
meval matter began to cool, and pass through certain 
changes, and form an exterior crust of granite rock, 
that continued to thicken as time rolled onward. 



114 VOLCANOES. 

Geology informs us that granite rock contains all the 
elements of all that is found above it, in the secondary, 
the coal measures, the tertiary, the alluvial deposits, 
and in the vegetable and animal kingdoms; that all have 
been evolved from this igneous granite formation which 
was first evolved from the primitive, homogeneous, in- 
candescent matter contained within the enormous cavity 
that is bounded by the rock-ribbed crust of the globe. 
If we dare venture down into the huge reservoir of fiery 
material, and take a survey, what shall we find there, 
that is usually vomited forth from the flaming, smoking 
crater? We may examine carefully every corner of this 
vast Cyclopean furnace, and not find a vestige of any 
of those substances that come to the surface of the 
earth in such untold quantities, during the activity of the 
various volcanoes ; neither flame nor smoke, ashes, cin- 
ders or scoria can be found in any one of the deep re- 
cesses of this fire orb, although it may be nearly 8,000 
miles in diameter, for all these several substances are 
but the result of consuming combustible materials; 
and, there can be no such materials in the homogeneous 
mass of un evolved matter, that is said to exist in the 
earth' s hollow, because it still remains in its unelaborated 
condition. 

If we enquire into the nature of combustible mate- 
rials, we shall find that they are those that are subject 
to being consumed by fire; sh all we find any such in this 
great central reservoir? If so, why have they not been 
consumed by a heat that may be 10,000° . The mate- 
rials that will produce flame, smoke and ashes, are comr 
paratively few in number, and those substances must 
pass through interminable processes of elaboration from 



VOLCANOES; 115 

the granite rock, before they can be produced. You 
cannot burn granite and cause it to produce flame and 
smoke, as would so much hickory, wood, or bituminous 
coal. Yet granite may contain within itself the latent 
element, which, when developed, may ultimate in mate- 
rial that will produce flame, smoke, ashes, and cinders. 
But how many long ages must pass away, before this 
elaboration will take place, that may result in coal, 
wood, or peat, oils, sulphur, phosphorus, or inflamma- 
ble gasses. 

Flame and smoke are both but particles passing off in 
the decomposition of combustibles, acted upon by that 
great solvent, heat; ashes are but the earthy residuum 
of those materials after they are dissolved, or all that 
can b . dissolved by the intensity of the heat produced 
in their own consumption. Cinders are the result of 
mingling such residuum with foreign mineral substances 
not in the great mass of homogeneous matter, which 
has never as yet been elaborated into granite rock; 
then, neither of the above articles, that are belched forth 
in such quantities by volcanoes can be found in all this 
huge receptacle, because all these substances are the re- 
sult of evolution, or certain processes of development, 
that are carried forward in the great laboratory of 
nature, as will be readily discovered by the intelligent 
reader. We might as well undertake to extract 
the full grown chicken from the new laid egg, as 
to extract the materials that are usually vomited from 
the craters of volcanoes, from this supposed mass of in- 
candescent, primeval, latent material. All the elements 
of the full grown chicken may exist in the egg, in a la- 
tent, unevolved condition, but it must pass through pro- 



116 VOLCANOES. 

cesses of incubation, before you can find the bones and 
feathers and muscular fibres of the matured fowl ; so 
must all primeval material pass through multitudinous 
processes, before it arrives up to the condition of sub- 
stances which are thrown forth by volcanic action. If 
you cannot find the substances above named, how much 
less liable shall we be, to find vapor in sufficient quant- 
ities to fall in copious showers of rain, around the moun- 
tain, or mud, a mixture of earth and water, for certainly 
neither mud or aqueous vapor could exist within the 
limits of a vast reservoir, filled with latent world mate- 
rials, heated so intensely. Yet mud is ejected from these 
craters in vast quantities, and there are so-called mud 
volcanoes that vomit forth little else, and others from 
which issue a bituminous substance, that ultimates in 
asphaltum, an inflammable material that would hardly 
remain a great length of time, in this universal reservoir 
of incandescent heat. 

We need not pursue this reasoning, for it is a self- 
evident fact, that the power that is generated beneath 
the earth's surface, sufficient to belch forth all these va- 
rious forms of matter, with such overwhelming force, 
must originate in the vicinity of the materials that are 
ejected, and further, that this vast explosive force must 
necessarily be backed up by something permanent, oth- 
erwise these projectiles that sometimes are thrown from 
the mouths of the craters several thousand feet above 
their summits, could not be acted upon with any such 
tremendous power. For example, Cotapaxi, nearly 
18,000 feet high, has projected matter 6,000 feet above 
its summit, and, at one time, it threw a stone one hun- 
dred and nine cubic yards in volume, to the distance of 



VOLCANOES. 117 

nine miles. There can be no doubt, that the explosive 
power that projects the great rock from a volcano, must 
act in the same manner as the forces that drive the ball 
from the cannon, or the shell from the mortar. In all 
these cases, the explosive forces must be backed up by 
a permanent resisting mass of solid material, entirely 
sufficient to receive the recoil, otherwise this force could 
not be communicated to the projectiles ; hence, the 
breech of all firearms, or that part behind and surround- 
ing the explosive substance, is made of great strength, 
and such of necessity must be the case, in order to im- 
part the entire power of the explosion to the ball pro- 
jected, and it must be conceded that, whether the pro- 
jectile is a shell sent from a mortar, or a great rock from 
the crater of a burning mountain, the cases are perfectly 
analogous, and the forces must be applied in a similar 
manner. _ 

In either case, you must first find the projectile, and 
then apply the forces in such a manner as to make them 
effectual in sending it to its destination. Hence, when 
an officer wishes to bombard a city, he not only procures 
the gunpowder and the shells, but he must provide a 
suitable receptacle, in which to explode the powder, be- 
fore he can think of sending those missiles into the town; 
and, we perceive, if a rock of such dimensions, was 
thrown nine miles from the crater, then the explosive 
force must have been brought to bear, in a manner anal- 
ogous to the mortar or the cannon, or the rock could 
not have been hurled such an immense distance. It will 
be seen at a glance, that the vast exploding power that pro- 
jected that rock, and all other materials that are thrown 
from these craters, must be backed up by substantial 



118 VOLCANOES. 

masses of matter, sufficient to receive the necessary re- 
coil, in order that the power may be imparted to the pro- 
jectile. Suppose the rock in question could have been 
found among the primeval materials of this vast interior 
fire globe, forty or fifty miles beneath the mountains, and 
an explosion should have occurred, of sufficient magni- 
tude, to have thrown that missile to the top of Cotapaxi, 
and nine miles farther, making a distance in all, of sixty 
miles. I leave the reader to guess the result of such a 
paroxysm in nature, for somewhere in these vast inter- 
nal regions, that terrific force must have recoiled, and 
reacted with a power equal to that which hurled this 
vast missile against the resistance of gravitation, over 
sixty miles, and after such recoil took place, the next 
business would have been reconstruction. 




The annexed diagram shows a section of the earth's 
crust upon a scale of forty inches or one half inch to a 
hundred miles. It represents the crust as forty miles in 
thickness, and the craters of the volcanoes reaching 
through the entire distance, into the supposed mass of 
fiery, unevolvcd matter below. Thus at a glance we get 
an idea of the igneous theory concerning volcanic 
mountains, belching forth smoke from a grand reservoir 
where no smoke exists. 

The reader will now have discovered two prominent 
difficulties in relation to volcanoes, based upon, and con- 
nected with the igneous theory; first, the materials can- 



VOLCANOES. 119 

not be found in the great mass of primeval, incandes- 
cent matter that is supposed to exist within the earth's 
crust, which are projected from the volcano; and sec- 
ondly, no power could be generated that could possibly 
throw out such quantities of matter with the usual force, 
all that great distance, without destroying the entire fab- 
ric, as the necessary conditions in which forces are ap- 
plied for the purpose of throwing projectiles, such im- 
mense distances, cannot exist in an open space of such 
magnitude, filled only w T ith an incandescent fluid, except 
by an extravagant waste of the powers so applied; as 
they w 7 ould be expended in all directions. Hence, it is 
clear that volcanoes must have their origin amidst the 
great fires that are kindled, to produce the smoke and 
flames that belch forth from their summits, and they must 
burn where they can act upon the kind of matter that 
is ejected from the craters; for, if ashes are found in 
large quantities, there must be some combustible w 7 hich, 
when burned, will leave such earthy residuum, before it 
can be thrown out, and so, of all other materials that 
come forth. If vapor or mud is ejected, there must be 
some causes that will produce those articles, and place 
them in the w T ay before they can be vomited from the 
crater. 

It will be further observed that if the origin of all 
volcanoes, is found in one general reservoir of homoge- 
neous matter, enclosed within a thin crust of rocky 
formation, and, that allthematter ejected from the cra- 
ters in all portions of the g^be, came from this grand 
reservoir, then, of course, volcanoes could never vomit 
forth but one kind of material, whatever the character 
of that material might happen to be — but the great fact 



120 VOLCANOES. 

that they have brought up from the depths below, a va- 
riety of substances, proves most conclusively, that the 
variety does not come from one general reservoir of un- 
evolved matter, but on the contrary, that all these dif- 
ferent substances come from diversified localities, and 
that they have been produced near the locality of this 
crater. 

Although these various materials have been thrown 
forth in vast quantities, yet, cavities have already 
been discovered beneath the earth's surface, sufficientlv 
capacious to contain a very great proportion of all that 
has been ejected by any single one of these craters, and, 
that there may exist cavities of huge dimensions, in the 
vicinity of the large volcano, ramifying in different di- 
rections through the bowels of the earth, overarched 
by vast rocky concretions, there is no good reason to 
doubt. Although Mount iEtna may have thrown out a 
quantity of matter, from time to time, five, or six, or ten 
times its bulk. There must have been under the island 
of Sicily, and the adjacent sea, an abundance of mate- 
rial to meet this enormous demand, and so of every 
other volcano, for it is not necessary that all this mate- 
rial should be extracted from a point, directly under- 
neath the crater. For forces that are sufficient to eject 
it from the top, are certainly sufficient to bring the 
matter to the cavity from whence it is thrown out. Com- 
bustible or coal formations are found in veins or stratifi- 
cations; as these burn out, avenues are found through 
which lava and other substances may be urged forward 
by the continuous forces generated in the rear. It will 
also be noticed that materials of this character which are 
brought to a state of fusion, will expand and greatly 



VOLCANOES. 121 

enhance their bulk, so that they might easily fill all the 
crater below, and rising above the mountain top, exude 
from the mouth, or be thrown with great violence by ex- 
plosive forces that are most naturally generated in the 
depths of an active volcano. 

Although the ridiculous aspects of this absurd theory 
concerning volcanoes, might be pursued to a greater ex- 
tent, we have doubtless said sufficient to satisfy the 
reader that it is a mere assumption, and unsupported by 
any well established facts, or sound analogical reason- 
ing, and we proceed to show, since neither the materials 
thrown up by volcanoes, nor the explosive forces that 
project them forth, can possibly exist in this vast in- 
terior, that there is ample room for both to be produced 
within the confines of this hollow, spherical shell, 
whether it be but forty or even thirty miles in thickness. 
It then becomes necessary not only to offer reasons why 
these phenomena are not connected with any vast inte- 
rior fires of such magnitude, but to present some rational 
causes for their comparatively superficial locality. We 
have discovered already the absolute necessity of con- 
structing the foundations of this globe, upon which the 
entire fabric rests, of the most inactive and quiet ele- 
ments, instead of the most active and explosive. 

We have shown that such material has been intro- 
duced, as will endure the unlimited ages it is designed 
to exist, and that the element is negative coldness, or 
materialized electricity, divested of all magnetic or pos- 
itive influence, and consequently in a state of perfect 
rest, and instead of being in a heated positive condition, 
it is in a frozen negative state, devoid of the least symp- 
tom of activity: this shell is built up in this manner 
11 



122 VOLCANOES, 

until the depths, or the inner foundations are made se- 
cure, and it is then that more positive materials are 
added, or rather that more positive elements are mingled 
with the material. Hence, we begin to find causes that 
may produce disturbances, but those disturbing elements 
by no means go down to the foundations, else the whole 
fabric might be endangered, thus we see the necessity of 
confining such influences to a limit that will not endan- 
ger the security of the entire structure. 

If we may suppose this shell or spherical globe is 
perhaps thirty-two miles in thickness, each half would be 
sixteen, and the interior eight miles of each half, may 
be formed of cold negative material that would remain 
forever in undisturbed repose, leaving eight miles in 
depth upon both the exterior and interior portions in 
which to introduce the positive, active and more dis- 
turbing elements that cause all these wonderful, superfi- 
cial phenomena. Doubtless in very many places, far 
underneath the surface of the earth, causes exist pro- 
ductive of heat and fire, but, as we have said, if fire 
continues to burn for any length of time, it must have 
something combustible on which to feed, as it can no 
more exist in the depths of the earth, and produce 
ashes and cinders, and melt the solid rock into lava, un- 
less there are combustibles to feed those flames, than it 
can upon the earth's surface, and when those materials 
are exhausted, the fires must necessarily be extinguished, 
and if it should so happen that a sufficient supply of 
combustible matter is at hand, a volcano might be the 
result, because this positive clement must necessarily 
find vent, and in doing so it would be very apt to carry 
with it any loose materials that are found in its way. 



VOLCANOES. 123 

Here we find the perfectly natural, common sense 
cause, why so many volcanoes have become extinct; in 
the exhaustion of the combustible and inflammable ma- 
terials that originally fed the fires that produced them. 
In other cases the cavity that was formed underneath, 
has been filled with water," and the fires have been ex- 
tinguished in that manner. 

It might be considered difficult to find combustibles, 
contiguous to the earth's surface, that would be suffi- 
cient to furnish the many volcanic fires with the requi- 
site fuel, to keep them in activity from age to age, and 
produce all the marvelous effects that many of the burn- 
ing mountains exhibit ; however successful we may be 
in furnishing the different kinds of matter that is thrown 
from their fiery mouths. 

We admit the necessity of supplying the continuous 
demands of iEtna, and Skapta Jokul, of Cotapaxi, and 
Popocatapetl, and all the other two hundred and twenty 
volcanoes of modern times, with the requisite fuel to 
feed their eternal fires, within the narrow limits of six 
to eight miles from the earth's surface, or that portion 
of this hollow sphere, to which we say the magnetic or 
active disturbing element is confined, as we aver that 
below that distance, all is cold and inactive, and there is 
not sufficient positive elements to produce any of those 
terrible phenomena, but that all of matter is slumbering 
in the arms of frozen and torpid death. Hence, all 
activities must originate nearer the surface where such 
elements can be found, and it might be proper for us 
to inquire what materials, scientific minds have brought 
to light, that might contribute towards a supply of 
those vast internal fires. 



124 VOLCANOES. 

It will be recollected, however, that but a very limited 
number of volcanoes are constantly active. Stromboli, 
upon one of the Lipari islands, has been observed for at 
least 2,000 years in a state of activity, probably longer 
by far than any other volcano of this class, but the lava 
never flows over the top of the crater. In Lake Nic- 
aragua is a volcano constantly burning, and Vilarica in 
Chili is never quiet. Popocatapetl which is nearly 
1,800 feet high, has been pouring forth smoke ever since 
the conquest of Mexico, and also Kilauea in the Sand- 
wich Islands, seems to be continuously active, as far as 
observation has extended. With these exceptions, per- 
haps all other volcanoes are only active at long intervals 
varying from a few months to many hundreds or may 
be thousands of years. So it would appear that the 
causes that produce their occasional paroxysmal activ- 
ity, might be exhausted, and then again supplied by fur- 
ther accumulations of combustible and inflammable ma- 
terials which upon ignition again produce similar results. 

It cannot by any means be supposed that earthquakes 
or volcanoes are mere mishaps or casualties, that they 
occur outside the great programme of events by mere 
accident that was unforeseen by the minds who were act- 
ually responsible for the projection and construction of 
the earth. These phenomena must have been perfectly 
understood, and are as necessary in working out the 
great purposes of the architects, as the diurnal and an- 
nual revolutions, or as day and night, and the changing 
seasons. There is evidently as much demand for them, 
as any others with which we are acquainted, and they 
cannot cease to exist, until all the purposes for which 
they were designed, have been accomplished to the full- 



VOLCANOES. 125 

est extent. Doubtless the wisdom that contrived ma- 
chinery upon so vast a scale, was abundantly competent 
to furnish all the means requisite, and engines appropri- 
ate to the production of such wonderful exhibitions. 
If nature upon the exterior of the earth's surface, did 
not make demands upon her internal resources, then 
most probably, this means of supplying those demands, 
and of transferring those resources to the surface, would 
not have been brought into activity. For we may be 
assured, that, whether the cricket chirps upon the 
hearth, the sparrow twitters upon the branch, the light 
nings flash, or the thunders roll in the distance, the 
earthquake rends the solid globe, with its terrific throes, 
or the volcanic explosion comes to the surface freighted 
with its unwieldy mass of lava, of smoke or flame, all is 
in obedience to some great design, and for the accom- 
plishment of some exalted purpose ; and it is idle to 
suppose that these phenomena will cease, until all their 
purposes are accomplished. 

"We find opposing elements everywhere, as far as we 
have traveled and explored the universe of causes and 
effects. You may realize the positive and negative, the 
male and female, heat and cold, light and darkness, fire 
and water, caloric and vapor, magnetism and electricity, 
and thus on to the end of the chapter, if we can find an 
end. These antagonisms exist, coming into belligerent, 
and amicable contact, the one with the other, and thus 
producing the varied activities that are working out the 
great problem of the eternally progressive existence of 
inorganic as well as organic material forms; of atoms as 
well as globes, of the animalcule and infusoria, as well 
as the highest forms of organized living intelligences, 



126_ VOLCANOES. 

working in, and permeating all that is active from the 
least to the greatest. Can we conclude that these an- 
tagonistic elements do not exist beneath the earth's sur- 
face, within the limits of six or eight miles, in sufficient 
quantities to produce all the superficial disturbances 
that have ever occurred, or that ever will occur until 
the great problem is finished ? Let us go down into the 
secret chambers among the rocks of different ages and 
formations, where have dwelt the terrible forces that 
can move a world, and if we can discover forces of that 
character, will it be difficult to find those that may 
cause the earth to belch forth in various places, and 
from time to time, with powerful throes, the dense 
smoke, the lurid flames, and the material contents of the 
great womb where these powers are generated and 
brought into activity? 

It is said that out of sixty primary elements that ex- 
ist in the mineral kingdom, the one-half of all that com- 
poses the ponderable globe is oxygen, an invisible gas, 
the supporter of life and combustion, that enters so large- 
ly into the composition of water and atmospheric air, and 
all things else that constitute the earth; so we perceive 
that one-half of that portion of the globe that man has 
become acquainted with, is a gas that none ever saw, 
tasted or smelled. One quarter of the shell or crust is 
supposed to be silica, the base of sand quartz and flint. 
Thus we have three-fourths of the material of this globe, 
as science teaches in these two elements, and the greater 
portion of the other fourth is composed of fourteen oth- 
er elements, among which, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, 
phosphorus, and sulphur, are prominent. Take these 
simples and compound them in different proportions, in 



VOLCANOES. 127 

connection with the others of the sixty that exist in 
smaller quantities, and you have all the solid and gaseous 
substances of which the earth is composed as far as it 
has been explored, in the same manner that any other 
combination of simple substances produce a compound. 
We have in these various combinations of simple ele- 
ments, all material forms, and all the active or positive, 
and negative forces of which we entertain the least knowl- 
edge, all combustibles and all explosives, all gasses and 
chemical compounds, all fluids and solids mingled and 
commingled in all possible proportions and forms. All 
the combined influences of gunpowder and nitro-glyc- 
erine, and all other explosive materials, that have ever 
yet been invented or can be found; for most certainly, 
nothing of that nature has been produced upon the 
earth, that does not exist in some form within its hidden 
recesses. ■ 

What is gunpowder? what were those little harmless 
looking black grains that were poured down the throat 
of the swamp angel five miles froga the city of Charles- 
ton, and whose dissolution released a power that fol- 
lowed the unwelcome messengers over the whole distance 
into the very midst of that devoted city, carrying dis- 
may and dread in their pathway, and producing de- 
struction and terror upon their arrival? They were a 
composition or mixture of sulphur, niter, and carbon, in 
the form of charcoal. It is a well-known fact, that the 
earth is abundantly supplied with all these and other ex- 
plosive elements and gasses, and, all having proceeded 
from the negative, are permeated with electricity in an 
inactive condition, ready to be conjoined with positive 
magnetic forces where the occasion may require, in pre- 



128 VOLCANOES. 

cisely the same manner as gunpowder when it is set on 
firp or nitro-glycerine when exploded. The Electro-Mag- 
netic currents permeating all the active portion of this 
earthly sphere, there is no difficulty in exploding these 
elements when the demands of nature render it neces- 
sary, and it cannot be doubted, that the supply is fully 
equal to all the requirements that can possibly occur. 

In addition to this we have immense store houses of 
combustible materials that have been produced by the 
activities of the positive elements, and of course, must 
be contiguous to the earth's surface. We may appeal 
to Geology, and ascertain what discoveries have been 
made concerning the past, by giving attention to the un- 
uttered language of the rocks which seem to speak so 
plainly and graphically, that we may well listen with 
great interest to the tales of bygone centuries. The 
secondary or stratified portions of these silent instruct- 
ors, teach us that their primitive ancestor has. been torn 
asunder piece-meal and dissolved by the jarring ele- 
ments which acted a# so many solvents, and were able 
to disintegrate the solid granite. They teach also, that 
the particles of which they are composed, have been 
gathered together in the ocean depths, and sought repose 
upon its bottom until they have accumulated in the pro- 
cess of innumerable ages, in many instances mountain 
high ! and subsequently some terrific forces in nature, 
have raised them from their quiet resting-place, and ex- 
posed thein to the view of inquisitive men who have 
given them names according to their age and condition. 

The reader not versed in these subjects, need only 
consult IVof. Hitchcock's able elementary work for all 
the data he may require upon this subject. This work 



VOLCANOES. 129 

is a compilation of the views and observations of the 
ablest authors who have written upon this department of 
human knowledge both in Europe and America. We learn 
from the various sources of information introduced into 
these pages, that the bottom of the earlier sedimentary 
or Silurian formation may possibly extend eight miles 
beneath the earth's surface. We also learn from this 
and other sources, that eminent geologists, since the 
recent discoveries of petroleum, have entered into 
extended investigations, in order, if possible, to ascertain 
the origin of that wonderful production of the rocks, 
and, very many of them have determined, satisfactorly, 
that the secondary formations have been the store house 
in which the coral insect has deposited its rich treasures, 
for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of ages, 
during the period of their accumulations upon the bot- 
tom of the ocean. 

Prof. Denton remarks that they existed and per- 
formed their immense labor from the bottom of the Si- 
lurian to the very top of the Devonian, and left their 
rich treasures scattered in various places, through the 
entire depth of these sedimentary deposits, and authors 
of high standing inform us that this might have been for 
more than eight miles, thus we have the testimony of 
the ablest geologists who live, or have lived, and thus we 
Sad above this, a coal formation that may be another mile 
or more in depth, that is, the coal may exist in layers or 
stratifications alternately wdth shales or underclays, for 
that or even a still greater distance. Now, if we look 
about us, we think w^e may find a sufficiency of explosive 
and combustible and inflammable material, to produce all 
these volcanic and thermal phenomena, without resort- 



130 VOLCANOES. 

ing to a vast interior fire globe for the original cause. 

Prof. Denton who has taken great interest in the 
petroleum subject, says: "The oil bearing rocks are of 
great thickness and vast extent, from the base of the Si- 
lurian to the top of the Devonian, is, we know, veritable 
oil territory ; the oil bearing corals being found in all the 
limestones of these formations. As these rocks under- 
lie fully one-half the continent, the possible oil ground 
is of immense extent; we shall burn it for fuel as well 
as for illumination. Steamboats will cross the ocean by 
its aid, and locomotives run more swiftly than before, 
nor does the free flowing wells give us any idea of the 
amount of this material which the earth contains. 
Many limestones and sandstones are saturated with oil. 
Bituminous shales abound from which twenty to sixty 
gallons of oil may be distilled from a single ton. I saw 
one bed of petrolenm shales partly in Utah, and partly 
in Colorado, that on a moderate calculation, contained 
forty thousand million barrels of oil. A bed of bitu- 
minous shales, thirty feet thick, underlies Tennessee, and 
contains much more oil even than this." 

We cannot suppose that this little worker of the past 
ages, has so industriously filled up these deposits, in 
this portion of the world, to the neglect of all others. 
If the limestones of the Silurian and Devonian periods 
in America, where observations have been made, are so 
impregnated with coral oil, shall we not conclude that 
the same fact exists wherever limestones are found under 
similar conditions? and may we not well suppose thai 
formations of this character which are still under the 
depths of the sea, undisturbed by any paroxysm of na- 
ture, are equally well supplied by this oil product of the 



VOLCANOES. 131 

coral insect? As we have already ascertained from act- 
ual observation, and are compelled to conclude from 
analogy that such immense quantities of petroloum ex- 
ist upon various parts of the globe, we may enquire 
what connection this oil may have with other combusti- 
ble materials. 

It has been quite clearly proven from observations 
that the vast quantities of oil that are deposited below 
the coal measures, cannot be a production emanating 
from coal, but it has not been proven that petroleum 
may not have something to do with the formation of coal, 
as it is conceded in very many instances, the bituminous 
properties in the oil, have been changed into that sub- 
stance. Although it may be supposed that large quan- 
tities of the stratified coal formations, may have been of 
vegetable origin, yet that fact by no means precludes 
the possibility that coal may also be an animal product, 
for if you find bitumen or some other elements that by 
certain processes, may be converted into coal, in the 
vegetable, and find the self-same elements in the animal, 
why not by a similar process convert the animal product 
into coal also ? 

Here we may be permitted to quote in support of this 
idea: "Although it is generally the product of veg- 
etation, it is not invariably so. In Albert county, New 
Brunswick, there is a large fissure in places seventeen 
feet wide which is filled with a jet black shining coal. 
It has been worked to a depth of seven hundred and 
fifty feet, and apparently continues to a much greater 
depths. This coal is now acknowledged to be solidified 
petroleum, and is therefore as I think an animal prod- 
uct. All petroleum coal that I have seen and heard of, 



132 VOLCANOES. 

occupies veins, generally perpendicular instead of hori- 
zontal beds. There is one in Ritchie county, Western 
Virginia, another in Scotland, several in Cuba, and oth- 
ers which I discovered partly in Utah and partly in Col- 
orado on White river. The coal of these can scarcely 
be distinguished from the Albertite of New Brunswick. 
In the same region is a bed of highly bituminous shale, 
equal to Cannelite, which I found at various points, in- 
dicating that it extended over twelve hundred square 
miles. The bituminous deposits of this country, are not 
all discovered yet. We have sleeping servants under 
the ground that future generations must waken/' 

All this would indicate that the bituminous proper- 
ties in the animal oil, is the great source from which na- 
ture has drawn her supplies in order to produce the in- 
exhaustible deposits of coal that in her great laboratory 
is working out her grand designs. She may have 
made use of the bituminous properties in both the veg- 
etable and animal worlds, to accomplish her beneficent 
purposes, and supply the later ages of humanity, the 
requisite amount of this much needed article. If the 
quantities that geologists suppose have originated from 
the enormous vegetable growth of a single period, are 
so extensive, what then must be the magnitude of those 
deposits of coal that have had their origin in the bitu- 
minous properties of this animal product which has been 
accumulating through the interminable ages that have 
passed away, since the commencement of the Silurian 
deposit. The gigantic semi-ligneous products of the age 
just anterior to the coal measures, had comparatively a 
brief existence. They occupy but a single page upon 
the great unwritten history that the rocks reveal. 



VOLCANOES. 133 

But these little industrious workers of the deep, have 
been silently plodding during the vast cycles of ages, 
from the commencement of the secondary period ; liv- 
ing and dying, building up their calcareous cells, and 
depositing their modicum of oil, and giving place to a 
succeeding generation, for a lapse of time too extended 
for human computation; and wherever these deposits 
have been made and subsequently buried beneath super- 
incumbent stratifications, contiguous to shales and clays, 
this becomes possible coal as well as oil territory. It is 
quite evident that all vegetable coal formations if they 
really exist, must be limited in their extent, because this 
enormous growth from which these coal deposits is said 
to have been formed, is limited to a very narrow geo- 
logic period. All was produced since the old Red Sand 
Stone, and all terminated with the carboniferous depos- 
its. It will be at once discovered that from this source 
alone, coal formations would be of limited, and narrow 
extent, and we should be very much troubled to find the 
ashes and cinders and other igneous productions that 
have been thrown out from the various volcanoes in 
different portions of the world. 

Vesuvius when she waked up to activity in the year 
79, vomited forth a quantity of ashes and cinders 
that accumulated foot by foot upon the surrounding 
country, until the beautiful villas that adorned the neigh- 
boring slopes, together with the two famous cities, Pompeii 
and Herculaneum, were entirely lost to view, and they 
thus slept for a period of sixteen centuries before their 
resurrection. 

Tomboro, a volcano on Sumbawa, one of the Molucca 
islands in April, 1815, during a period of remarkable 
12 



134 VOLCANOES. 

activity, ejected a quantity of ashes that strikes the 
mind with perfect astonishment in view of the vast quan- 
tity of combustibles that must have been consumed in 
order to leave this overwhelming amount of residuum. 
The roofs of houses at forty miles distance, were 
crushed in, and rendered uninhabitable by the weight 
of ashes that fell upon them. It has been calculated 
that sufficient ashes fell upon this occasion, to have cov- 
ered the entire states of Maryland and Delaware, two 
feet in depth, or they would have made a mountain 
twice the size of Mont Blanc. Many other volcanoes 
which we need not mention, have thrown forth from 
time to time inconceivable quantities of those sub- 
stances that can only be produced by the actual burn- 
ing of combustible materials, and, that cannot be ac- 
counted for upon any other principle. 

We feel the utmost confidence in expressing the opin- 
ion that scientific men will be compelled, at no distant 
day, to furnish combustible materials, to produce the 
ashes and other substances that are erupted from these 
various craters, aside from the great central reservoir, 
and they will find the so-called vegetable coal deposits 
are too near the surface and entirely insufficient in quan- 
tity. But far beneath the coal measures it has been 
discovered by observation, may exist interminable cav- 
erns of solidified petroleum, or wide extended beds of 
bituminous shales, or clays equal to cannelite or any oth- 
er coal for burning, entirely sufficient to supply all the 
demands of all the volcanoes that ever did, or ever will 
exist. Although we modestly express an opinion that 
petroleum has had very much to do in the formation of 
a large portion of the coal deposits that seem to be of 



VOLCANOES. 135 

vegetable origin, and of comparatively recent produc- 
tion, however that may be, there must, without doubt, ex- 
ist inconceivable quantities of coal that are exclusively 
the product of petroleum ; deeply buried and scattered 
all through the Silurian and Devonian formations, under 
the earth and under the sea. The palpable reason why 
we are not better acquainted with the exclusively ani- 
mal coals, is the fact of their lying deeply hidden by the 
superincumbent stratifications of a later period. It will 
be seen that we are abundantly able to furnish all the req- 
uisite combustible materials, to keep all the volcanoes in 
the world in activity, and make the above concessions to 
scientific conclusions; but personally we utterly ignore 
the idea that any considerable amount of bituminous or 
anthracite coal, has ever been produced without the aid 
of animal oil or petroleum ; for it is utterly impossible to 
convert wood into coals without the aid of heat or fire, 
and then we have only charcoal or lignites, and they 
must remain such forever, unless saturated by some more 
powerful bituminous product than exists in wood; and it 
will be remembered that the gigantic flora of the Anti- 
Carboniferous period, was only a kind of herbaceous 
production, a semi-ligneous material, not as well adapted 
for burning, even into charcoal as the trees of our mod- 
ern forests. 

When this matter is thoroughly understood, we shall 
ascertain that most of the coal is but shales and clays 
saturated by the gasses arising from burning petroleum, 
or else by the petroleum itself, and the probable reason 
why we find so little of this oil in the immediate vicinity 
of coal beds, is that it either lies far beneath the coal 
deposits, or that it has been exhausted in their forma- 



136 VOLCANOES. 

tion. It is no surprise that we do not find in the coal 
fields, the exact aroma that arises from petroleum in its 
crude state, as the peculiar smell must have been modi- 
fied, and overcome by this mixture of shales and clays, 
and subjection to magnetic and electric action, during 
the ages of the past. And, as we have been told, that 
wherever we find limestone, from the bottom of the Si- 
lurian to the top of the Devonian, it is possible oil ter- 
ritory, we also perceive that where those deposits of oil 
are underneath or contiguous to shales and clays, it be- 
comes probable coal territory. This silent process of 
forming coal, must have been in activity from the inter- 
minable ages of the past, and deep beneath the ocean 
bed, the same work is going forward to-day, as it has 
been during all the vast periods of the sedimentary 
deposits. Perhaps the reader may begin to get some 
faint inkling of the vastness of the store houses which 
contain the combustibles that have supplied the fires of 
the volcanoes in all past time, and that will continue to 
furnish their supplies in the future, for the self-same 
processes of manufacture are still in activity. 

This crust or shell whose exterior surface we inhabit, 
is by no means solid, but vast cavities may be found, 
some of which have apertures that reach the surface, 
and may be explored for very long tortuous distances; 
and it is quite possible that the smoke that issues from 
some of the active volcanoes, may originate in the 
smouldering combustible situated hundreds of miles dis- 
tant from the crater, and that it finds its way to the 
surface through the windings and turnings of the secret 
chambers that have been burned out in the ages of the 
past. Suppose now that these passage ways should by 



VOLCANOES. 137 

some means, become closed up while the fires were burn- 
ing, gasses would necessarily accumulate that must find 
vent, and fearful disturbances would doubtless ensue. 
That there are great unknown cavities beneath the 
. earth's surface, is proven by the fact that sometimes, 
volcanic mountains have sunk into the depths below, and 
at different times, cities and towns, and islands have also 
disappeared, as Port Royal in the West Indies, Lisbon, 
Caracas, and others, and it is quite evident those places 
could not have sunk, if there had not been some open- 
ing below, to have received them. If the earth or 
rocks beneath those towns, and islands, and mountains, 
had been solid, and there had been no cavities into which 
they could have fallen, it is by no means probable that 
the earth would have opened a simple fissure, sufficiently 
large to have swallowed them. 

We trust it will from a careful perusal of the preced- 
ing pages, become quite clear to the reader, that volca- 
noes when they have exhausted the fuel requisite to cause 
their activities, feed their fires, melt the large quantities 
of lava, and produce the ashes and other substances 
which come forth, must cease to burn and become ex- 
tinct. He will also discover that the requisite amount 
of fuel must necessarily be provided before such wonder- 
ful results can be produced in any portion of the material 
realms. It would seem hardly necessary to present this 
simple view of the subject, had not our philosophers 
apparently forgotten this natural principle, and under- 
taken to build and keep in activity a raging fire within 
the bowels of our globe from age to age, where no par- 
ticle of fuel of any description, could have existed since 
the time they supposed it was first kindled. We have 



138 EARTHQUAKES. 

devoted all the space we can possibly afford to this sub- 
ject, and find it by no means exhausted, but we doubt 
not other minds will seize upon the few ideas presented, 
and elaborate them to an extent that may ultimate in 
throwing an increasing flood of light upon this hitherto 
difficult matter. 



CHAP. V 

EARTHQUAKES. 

Earthquakes have been of such frequent occurrence 
and so destructive and wide-spread in their influences as 
to receive a large amount of attention from scientific 
minds, and it would seem that those who have had time 
and favorable opportunities for this line of investigation 
and for extended research into the various physical phe- 
nomena of the earth, ought to be able to give us a clear 
and lucid understanding of the causes that are promi- 
nent in the production of such terrific superficial dis- 
turbances. But we find this subject enveloped in dark- 
ness and doubts, quite similar to others of a like char- 
acter. Scientific opinions are entirely unsettled, some 
minds adopt one theory and some another, and a treat- 
ise upon earthquakes by the learned, will give the reader 
little more than a lengthy catalogue of those that have 
occurred from time to time, in various parts of the 
world, their locality, time of duration, the direction of 



EARTHQUAKES. 139 

the waves of motion or vibration, the amount of build- 
ings shakon down, and general damage done to the cit- 
ies or neighborhoods where they have occurred, the num- 
ber of lives destroyed, if any, and all the various minu- 
tia attending the particular catastrophe, and thus on, 
until the reader is surfeited with these lengthy details; 
while the mind is still left entirely barren of any knowl- 
edge of the general principles or causes that produce 
such fearful disturbances. 

Even that great master mind, Von Humboldt who 
has rendered such efficient aid to modern science by his 
learned contributions, confines himself in his lengthy 
treatise upon earthquakes to a description of the 
phenomenal phases, and scarcely ventures an opinion 
concerning their producing causes, or any of their varied 
operations, beyond the scrutiny of his own vision, or of 
those from whom he received his information. Deeply 
as he had penetrated by his researches, into the myste- 
ries that abound in the realms of nature, he was evi- 
dently entirely inadequate to give the world the philos- 
ophy of those terrific disturbances, and contented him- 
self by observing and noting their visible phenomena. 

We learn that many of the paroxysms are very ex- 
tended and wide-spread in their influences, and hence, 
it is concluded that the causes must be deep-seated and 
very extended also. Our friends who endorse the fire 
theory, have seized upon this fact, and claim that an 
earthquake that exerted a vibratory power over a field 
of such vast extent, as the one that sunk a portion of the 
city of Lisbon in Portugal, must have a cause as wide 
as the effects produced, and as they know of none ex- 
cept the great fire globe within the earth, they necessa- 



140 EARTHQUAKES. 

rily conclude the cause must originate in that. But a 
query might arise here, and we might ask with propri- 
ety if our friends may not prove too much ; for if the 
earthquakes of Lisbon or Guadeloupe, were produced 
by a cause so universal as to occupy the whole globe, 
except this thin crust by which it is enveloped as a kind 
of mantle, then what should have hindered those earth- 
quakes, and all others from being universal also, and 
shaking the whole fabric into ruins. 

Can they tell us why there should be any boundaries 
to a superficial disturbance anywhere upon the earth's 
crust, where they claim that the cause in which this dis- 
turbance originates, is so overwhelmingly universal that 
it contains thirty-five times the solid contents of the en- 
tire superficial crust, upon which it is exerting its pow- 
ers ? We are led to conclude that the grand difficulty 
will be to give a reason why any earthquake should be 
limited in its extent, if the producing cause is homoge- 
neous and universal; why one side or any one portion of 
this vast furnace should manifest activity sufficient to 
produce exterior vibrations, while all the other portions 
lie in repose; or why if this universal cause which lies 
equidistant from all portions of the exterior surface, is 
the all producing origin of physical disturbances, they 
are so limited in their extent as to be felt in quite severe 
shocks in one city, and entirely unknown a hundred 
miles distant. It is not unfrequently that we read of 
vibrations of the earth in San Francisco, or at some 
point upon the coast, or in the adjacent Sierra Nevadas, 
and we know nothing of any such disturbance in Sac- 
ramento : and Bucfa is the case in any portion of the 
world where slight earthquake shocks are of frequent 



EARTHQUAKES. 141 

occurrence, and it will become our igneous friends to 
give some explanation upon the point before their theory 
is fully established. 

The conclusions of these learned men are really very 
curious; one author considers " Thecrusttobe brimming 
full of molten lava, and that it is ready to gush out 
upon the least contraction, and proves by figures which 
are unfailing guides to truth, that if the crust should 
contract 1-12,350 part of an inch, it would be sufficient 
to force out the matter of a volcanic eruption." Anoth- 
er popular author says, u There may be large cavities be- 
tween the rolling mass and the superincumbent crust, 
and from contraction or some other cause, vast impend- 
ing rocks of 100,000.000 toris in weight, may become 
detached and fall into the boiling flood below, creating 
such a terrible commotion in the molten mass, as to be 
experienced upon the exterior surface in the form of a 
fearful earthquake." It would almost seem that the au- 
thor meant this for a grim jest upon a very grave sub- 
ject, but we cannot doubt his sincerity. Which of these 
two shall we believe, the one who says the crust is so 
brimming full that the least contraction would cause the 
matter to ooze out and produce volcanoes, or the one 
who tells us there are very extensive vacancies between 
the molten mass and the superincumbent rocks. 

If we are bound to adopt the igneous theory, we are 
inclined to accept the latter view, for if this is the 
grand source of all volcanic eruptions, the vast quanti- 
ties of substances that have been thrown out since the 
formation of the crust, must necessarily have produced 
very extensive vacancies; as, the overwhelming quanti- 
ties of ashes that have been vomited forth from time to 



142 EARTHQUAKES. 

time, must have required a largely multiplied amount of 
combustibles to produce them, and the vast and continu- 
ous clouds of dense smoke would prove, that inconceiv- 
able masses of material have been burning during in- 
terminable ages to produce this, together with the flames 
and other elements that have escaped, and, we must 
conclude in that case the vacancy beneath the crust 
must have assumed very enormous dimensions. We fur- 
ther discover, if rocks fall from the superincumbent 
mass, by the force of gravity, then all materials de- 
tached from the crust, would be forced as nearly as pos- 
sible to the geometrical center, which, in that case, 
would be the center of gravitation, and there would nec- 
essarily be a continuous vacancy between the crust and 
the liquid mass in the interior, or in other words, the 
molten lava would by gravitating force, cluster around 
the geometrical center, and remain entirely detached 
from the superincumbent crust. 

However small the vacancy might be, it would be 
compelled to equalize itself upon ail portions of the liq- 
uid mass, which could but hang suspended to the grand 
center of gravitation; and again, if these tremendous 
detached portions of granite may fall into the great 
heated mass, it would be interesting to know how the au- 
thor disposes of them after they have fallen. We do 
not wish to be too inquisitive, but this would seem to be 
a legitimate inquiry, and we should be glad to ascertain 
whether they are fused with the general mass, or float 
upon the surface, or sink to the bottom which would be 
the center. We are disposed to think the specific grav- 
ity of granite rock, greater than any homogeneous mass 
of molten fluid, that can possibly exist in the interior of 



EARTHQUAKES. 143 

the crust, and we think our author must arrive at the 
same conclusion, consequently, it would not float, but 
sink, and this might interpose a difficulty in the early 
formation of the infant crust 

It cannot be supposed that a crust of a magnitude as 
immense as our globe, could have all formed at one time 
or have been continuously connected, so as to have been 
a self supporting arch, but that it would have been cooled 
in detached parcels, and if we admit that by contrac- 
tions and solidifying, granite rock attains to greater spe- 
cific gravity than the original fluid, then, of course, it 
would sink to the bottom, and either melt and fuse again, 
or else the solid portion of the mass would form in the 
center, and the whole theory would destroy itself. 

It was very reasonably supposed that earthquake 
shocks being realized over so large an extent of terri- 
tory simultaneously, must have an original cause as wide 
as the effect produced, and they evidently could think 
of nothing but the great internal fire that was commen- 
surate with such fearful results; so modern science very 
generally points to that as the original cause of all these 
superficial disturbing phenomena. As our ancestors and 
very many at the present day, charge all the seeming 
evils humanity endures, in consequence of their own ir- 
regularities and disobedience, upon an imaginary, ill fa- 
vored individual they call the Devil, whom they consider 
either ubiquitous, or else a wonderful traveler, and have 
looked upon him as a cause entirely adequate to the pro- 
duction of all the fearful miseries that are so en- 
dured, and yet it is impossible to trace out the connec- 
tion between these unhappy effects, and the personage 
upon whom they are charged. So, when scientific men 



144 EARTHQUAKES. 

a 

learn that an earthquake occurred at Lisbon, which 
sunk a portion of that city, and extended over into Af- 
rica with sufficient violence, to destroy cities upon that 
side of the Mediterranean, and, that the shocks were 
felt across the Atlantic, and over an extent of territory 
many times larger than the European continent, and 
they learn of another at Guadaloupe in the West Indies, 
extending its influences north to Charleston, and south 
to the mouth of the Amazon, it becomes incumbent upon 
them, to find a cause somewhere as extensive as the ef- 
fect produced, and no other that seemed adequate being 
apparent, they resort to the great fire orb in the interior, 
and find one that will cover the whole ground, and quite 
likely if it existed it would cover too much ground for 
the safety and permanency of this planet. 

We think, however, aside from this imaginary interior 
molten mass,wemay find inherent in this spherical shell, 
powers entirely adequate to answer all its purposes, and 
enable it to perform all its multitudinous labors, even to 
give it propulsion in its orbital and axial revolutions; as 
we cannot conceive that any other planet can possess a 
surplus of such forces, and bestow them upon our globe 
for its benefit. If we find forces of this character in 
abundance, in and upon the earth, we may not be surprised 
that they are entirely sufficient to produce all the super- 
ficial tremblings and vibrations that have ever yet oc- 
curred. It can by no means be doubted that forces that 
will move a world at the rate of 1,000 miles per hour 
upon its axis, and 68,000 miles per hour in its orbit, cer- 
tainly ought to be sufficient when properly applied, to 
cause a little trembling, and vibrating motions in its 



EARTHQUAKES* 145 

crust, and even produce extensive cracks and fissures in 
its surface. 

It is quite possible there may be many elements in the 
depths below the surface, that are needed above, and, if 
we would have the meat we must crack the nut in which 
it is contained, and if there is anything within the earth- 
ly shell that is required at the surface, then it must be 
brought there regardless of consequences. If men 
build cities in the #ay where the workmen are engaged 
in arranging and modifying the elements in this unfin- 
ished world, then the cities must experience the natural 
result. That this world is in a very unfinished condi- 
tion, no person who looks upon it with an intelligent 
eye, can entertain a shadow of doubt. If we take a 
survey of its exterior superficies as it appears to-day, we 
shall find nearly three-fourths covered by one wide 
waste of waters, and a vast extent of the portion that 
is above their level occupied by sandy plains, arid des- 
erts, and craggy, inaccessible mountain cliffs, or in a 
climate so rigorous as to preclude the possibility of pro- 
ducing sustenance for any number of inhabitants, else 
under the blazing sun of the tropics where only the 
more inferior and stupid of the races of men seem to 
flourish. 

We shall find but a small portion of the area of the 
earth's surface in a genial, temperate clime, blessed with 
a fertile soil that is capable of yielding an abundance of 
the fruits that man needs for his sustenance. 

When we come to take an actual survey, we discover 
but a very limited quantity of the 200,000,000 square 
miles that constitute the superficial area of our globe- 
that may be considered desirable as a residence for intel- 
13 



146 EARTHQUAKES. 

ligent men; hence, some powers must be engaged in im- 
proving and preparing the unfinished portions, so as to 
extend as rapidly as necessary, the capabilities of the 
earth for sustaining increasing numbers of inhabitants. 

Men seem to wander out into the mazes of darkness, 
and establish in their own minds many an imaginary hy- 
pothesis, in order to furnish causes for well-known facts, 
and they use great multitudes of technical words for the 
purpose of satisfying themselves and others of the truth 
of their opinions, and our libraries are occupied by very 
many books called scientific, that in process of time be- 
come little better than useless rubbish, to say nothing of 
the everlasting accumulations of theological productions 
that are continually being superseded by more intelli- 
gent ideas of the natural and spiritual realms. 

After Dr. Harvey discovered the fact of the circula- 
tion of the blood through the arteries and veins, he 
could doubtless have explained in comparatively few 
words, phenomena in the physiological structure, that 
had puzzled the brains of the learned Doctors for ages, 
and upon which they had perhaps written many useless 
volumes. It may be possible that men will yet ascertain 
that there exists a fluid circulation in the physical struc- 
ture of the globe, perfectly analogous to that found in 
the human system, and it would seem very probable the 
human organization had inherited all its powers and 
functions from this great parent, the earth. If we 
should find this to be the case, then many of the puz- 
zling phenomena now so embarrassing to the student, 
may be rendered plain and quite comprehensive ; and 
with comparatively few written pages, a system might be 
established that would harmonize with all of the known 



EARTHQUAKES. 147 

facts and principles in the great and universal realms. 
Earthquakes and volcanoes very frequently seem to 
act in concert, and possess a sort of sympathetic rela- 
tionship for each other, and hence they have been 
attributed to one common cause that is considered 
sufficiently extensive for the production of both. It 
m'ust, however, be admitted that in their effects they are 
entirely dissimilar ; the one causing the earth to vibrate 
and rock suddenly with violent shocks, sometimes open- 
ing its crust into yawning chasms that admit towns and 
islands, and portions of country into their depths, while 
the other usually expend their fury through burning cra- 
ters, throwing out during their activity, a variety of min- 
eral and other substances, and they are, no doubt, gen- 
erally produced by causes quite dissimilar and remote 
from each other. As a cause in the human system pro- 
ductive of vomiting, might not either be attended by 
pneumonia or nervous affection, and the cause of paral- 
ysis might not produce vomiting, yet it is quite possible 
that a patient may be afflicted by two or three difficul- 
ties at one and the same time, and great activity in one, 
might seem to relieve the system of the violent effects 
of the other. It is an acknowledged fact, the most dif- 
ficult part of the physician's duties, is to diagnose his 
cases and ascertain precisely the true cause and nature 
of the maladies that afflict his patients; so we need not 
be surprised, if the learned Doctors who attempt to feel 
the pulse of our old mother the earth, when she groans 
or quakes in consequence of internal disturbances, 
should experience still greater embarrassments, in ascer- 
taining the exact causes productive of her complainings. 
These causes lie very deeply hidden beneath the reach 



148 EARTHQUAKES. 

of their exterior vision, beyond all the processes of ex- 
perimental observation by which they obtain their deduc- 
tions, and upon which they base their most carefully 
formed opinions; they are dark, uncertain, and quite 
liable to lead them astray from the truth. 

We may be quite sure as we have remarked that nei- 
ther earthquakes or volcanoes are mishaps or casualties, 
or oversights, but that they are all in the original pro- 
gramme; they occur as all other phenomena must take 
place, in accordance with original design, and the forces 
that will produce them, may be found in abundance 
where they originate or in the vicinity of their occur- 
rence. They are evidently employed to assist in work- 
ing out the grand purposes of those powers and princi- 
palities who seem to exert a controlling influence over 
all earthly things. There cannot be any more chance 
work connected with these phenomena than with the op- 
erations of any other portion of the realms of nature. 
It is not by chance that spring and summer, autumn 
and winter, succeed each other in the periodical revolu- 
tions of the earth, or that the lightning flashes are be- 
held in the heavens, and their reverberating explosions 
are heard in the distance, that the forked erratic chain 
descends towards the earth, and sets on fire our dwell- 
ings, and prostrates the riven tree to its foundations. 
Ey no means; these and other like phenomena are sim- 
ply working out great purposes in nature's laboratory, 
and may occur to satisfy the requirements or imperious 
demands that nature in one part of her domains, is con- 
stantly making, for elements that may be found in 
another. 

If the old dame upon the surface, requires to replen- 



EARTHQUAKES. 149 

ish any of her exhausted resources for the use of the 
vegetable or the animal race, or for any other purpose, 
all that is needed in such cases, exists in the mineral 
kingdom; for every etherealized element by which we 
subsist, came from thence, and perhaps deeply buried 
within the dark recesses of our earth, there may be es- 
sential materials existing among the grosser atomic par- 
ticles that are absolutely necessary to furnish nature's 
wants above the surface. It may be oxygen, or nitro- 
gen, or carbon, or some other life-giving essence that is 
partially exhausted, and we discover the means are am- 
ply provided, by which these life essences can be ob- 
tained in continuous supplj. 

The reader may have already learned from the pre- 
ceding pages, that the original elemental material of 
which worlds are constructed, must necessarily be found 
in the most inactive condition, and that such material 
must be the essential element of all negative properties 
existing undisturbed by positive forces, for as we have 
said, when positive forces and elements are introduced, 
and enter into the negative, then all becomes active, and 
it can no longer remain a chaotic mass of primordial 
atoms, because activities have commenced, and hence- 
forth it becomes progressive, and subject to continued 
change. 

We ascertain that the highest form of exclusively 
negative fluid matter in existence is called electricity, 
and that when matter is resolved to its first principles 
or original chaotic state, it becomes one mass of atomic 
electricity ; cold and inactive, and this cold, dead, prime- 
val fluid substance is the material from which our globe, 
and all other globes are manufactured by the immortal 



150 EARTHQUAKES. 

ever living mechanics who are competent to control the 
forces, and atomic particles that ultimate in the con- 
struction of such stupendous fabrics. Thus we see, if 
all is produced from electricity, that negative element 
must predominate everywhere throughout the entire 
structure, but we must keep in view, that negatives are 
entirely inactive, unless acted upon by positive elements, 
and electricity without the aid of the great positive ele- 
ment, magnetism, is perfectly quiet and docile, and only 
when the two powers are conjoined, is any active result 
produced. 

Now, it will be perceived that the negative elements 
pervade all from the center to the circumference, from 
the foundations of the earth to its surface, and from 
thence to the limits of the atmosphere, but, in an inac- 
tive state, only so far as the positive element extends. 
Where the positive forces extend their influences, we 
may expect to find those and all other elements in exist- 
ence in a state of activity, and of course down in the 
depths of Belisma, where these positive powers do not 
penetrate, all is stillness and locked in the frozen em- 
brace of death and night. Here we find a permanent 
foundation, upon which we may establish those terrible 
powers, and a point beyond which they exert no in- 
fluence, in this manner giving the positive activities, 
down in the depths of the earth, a permanent negative 
basis upon which to rest, which cannot by any possibility 
be disturbed or endangered. 

It is a well understood fact that there are Electro- 
Magnetic currents, running from north to south, or in 
longitudinal curves from those two points everywhere 
around our earth, in its atmosphere and hence the direc- 



EARTHQUAKES. 151 

tion of the magnetic needle. We must suppose those 
currents exist beneath the earth's surface, down to the 
lowest depths of all activity ; for, what else produces 
any activity, down in these deep recesses, but the great 
positive and negative elements acting in conjunction, 
and thus, you have the combined energies of the two 
great pow T ers that are able to move worlds upon their 
predestined journeys through the regions of space; and 
do we need any other forces to produce all the various 
phenomena that men have witnessed upon the earth's 
surface ? It would seem not. But, we have in addition 
another force finer and more powerful still, the offspring 
of the great positive and negative, male and female pair, 
called aura or the aural element, and this diffuses itself 
in every place where the two parents exist, interweav- 
ing its etherealized threads at right angles across the 
Electro-Magnetic threads or currents, forming a beauti- 
ful and all-potent web, composed of w T arp and woof of 
the most powerful elementary essences that exist in the 
universal realms of nature. These numerous webs that 
permeate the active portions of our earth, and atmos- 
phere containing within themselves all the essential ele- 
ments of strength and power, are the bands and bars 
that hold all things in the active portions of our globe 
in. a permanent condition, and that prevent the general 
tendency to dissolution. 

Explosions of the Electro -Magnetic elements are not 
of unfrequent occurrence in the atmosphere, as almost 
every one has witnessed in the lightning's vivid flash; 
and at times these explosions are very disastrous in their 
effects, not only destroying great numbers of human 
lives, but they do immense damage to buildings and 



152 EARTHQUAKES. 

other objects in their destructive course, and not un~ 
frequently cause very sensible vibrations of the earth. 
They have been known to expend their fury upon the 
mountain cliffs, tearing asunder huge rocks, and hurling 
thern with terrible force to the plains below. Not long 
since an occurrence of this kind was witnessed in the 
highlands, upon the Hudson river, by which large quan- 
tities of rocks were torn from the brow T of the mountain 
by the force of the explosion, and scattered upon the 
river below, to the great hazard of some small vessels 
that were passing at the time. 

It will be remembered that the Electro-Magnetic cur- 
rents are passing through the exterior portions of the 
earth's crust, precisely upon the same plan that they are 
through the atmosphere, and if we have explosions that 
are accompanied with serious consequences in the at- 
mosphere, why may we not have explosions beneath the 
earth's surface, that might from the attendant circum- 
stances result in still more serious effects, as we may 
very clearly see that an explosion in the atmosphere 
above the earth's surface, may have the room to expend 
its forces, and be attended by comparatively trifling re- 
sults, while a similar explosion confined below the solid 
crust of the earth, and deeply buried beneath the super- 
incumbent rocks, might be terrible in its consequences. 
Let us now inquire if we cannot come to an understand- 
ing of the real cause of so-called electrical concussions, 
whether they occur above or under the earth, and in 
this inquiry the question naturally arises: Is it the Elec- 
tro-Magnetic elements alone, that cause the explosion? 
or whether these elements may not be combined with 
others of an explosive character, causing the detonation 



EARTHQUAKES. 153 

and scattering these forces in every direction from the 
point where the concussion or explosion occurs. We 
express the opinion that the Electro-Magnetic forces in 
a state of activity, unattended by any other explosive 
element, are silent in their operations, and never accom- 
panied by any detonation whatever, and hence when the 
reverberating thunders occur, they may be partially pro- 
duced by the ignition of some of the explosive elements 
that are found in nature's great laboratory, and not en- 
tirely by the agency of the Electro-Magnetic elements 
acting in a separate capacity. 

One method of destroying the ships of an enemy that 
are approaching the harbor of a maritime city, is to 
place a number of torpedoes in the channel or as nearly 
as practicable to the track the ship must take, and the 
explosive elements of the torpedo may be ignited by es- 
tablishing artificial Electro-Magnetic currents or wires 
between them and some convenient place upon the shore 
where may be arranged a galvanic battery, and thus they 
use the Electro-Magnetic current for igniting the tor- 
pedo, the same as these currents ignite the explosive ele- 
ments in the atmosphere, and in the earth, which cause 
the detonations, and assist in producing the vibrations 
and the attendant destruction. Nitre, sulphur and car- 
bon in appropriate quantities, will produce that explo- 
sive element called gunpowder, and we find all those ele- 
ments in the mineral kingdom, scattered almost every- 
where, and from thence their etherealized elements are 
passing into the atmosphere, and whenever essences of 
such a character are combined in suitable quantities, ei- 
ther in the earth or above the earth, they are liable to 
be exploded by the Electro-Magnetic currents; or wher- 



154 EARTHQUAKES. 

ever any explosive materials or gasses exist, with which 
these currents come in contact, they are liable to igni- 
tion and explosion at any time, so we readily discover 
that there may be in nature's workshop, abundant 
causes for explosions and disturbances, and it is no mar- 
vel that they so frequently occur in different portions of 
our globe. 

When we take into consideration the extreme violence 
of the Electro-Magnetic concussions, exploding in the 
atmosphere, where there is ample room for all the fury 
and marvelous strength of these forces to expend them- 
selves, and, that under such circumstances they cause 
severe tremblings and quakings of the earth, we may 
not be surprised if a similar explosion, pent up in the 
depths below, should produce effects greatly multiplied, 
and cause all things to tremble, and vibrate for a great 
distance. We may recollect that these concussions both 
in the atmosphere above and in the earth beneath, are 
produced by the two great forces that contain all the 
power of all other forces below them; they are the con- 
centrated essential elements of heat and cold, of li^ht 
and darkness, and of all positive and negative powers 
from which they are eliminated, and if nature in work- 
ing out her grand purposes, has anything of large im- 
port to perform, she must call upon these two great pow- 
ers; otherwise she certainly would call upon the child to 
accomplish that which would require the strength of the 
full-grown athletic man. 

Caloric is superior to fire, because it penetrates where 
fire cannot go, and performs duties beyond the ability of 
the inferior, grosser element; its particles being finer 
and more powerful; magnetism is superior to caloric 



EARTHQUAKES. 155 

for the same reason, and operates in a field that caloric 
does not enter. So is steam more powerful than water, 
and exerts its influences in a manner that is impossible 
with the aqueous element from which it proceeded. 
Electricity is entirely superior to steam, as we have be- 
fore remarked, and here you have the two great ele- 
ments in nature, that may accomplish all those feats of 
strength and power which we behold with such aston- 
ishment, and why should we travel out into the realms of 
the unknown for powers that are so plentifully dispersed 
wherever they are needed, and what forces can you find 
in any portion of the broad universe, that will prove 
their superiors ? If you wish to burst the steam boiler, 
you will be compelled to call upon them for aid. If 
you desire a first class thunder storm, they are the forces 
that are called into requisition, as no explosion of any 
character, can occur without their assistance, and sup- 
pose an earthquake is necessary, we may be fully as- 
sured that a proper disposition, and manipulation of these 
elements, will produce as grand a specimen of such phe- 
nomena, as the most ardent admirer of the sublime and 
terrible in nature, can possibly desire. 

We discover then that these two elements being supe- 
rior to all other physical forces, are the only powers 
that can be called into requisition with certainty in the 
production of great physical disturbances; yet it is pos- 
sible that even their powers may be enhanced by other 
agencies, and as we have noticed by coming in contact 
with, and igniting and exploding other elements. 

We apprehend that spiritual essences which have been 
released by a dissolution of grosser material particles, 
cannot by any possibility, when they demand escape 



156 EAKTHQUAKES. 

to the surface, be confined in the depths beneath. We 
conclude if the earth was a solid, and composed of gran- 
ite to the very center, and an explosion should take 
place at that point which released such essences or ethe- 
realized matter that requires exit, then such essences or 
forces would come forth, even if it caused the destruc- 
tion of the whole fabric, and as forces and elements of 
that character do exist contiguous to the earth's surface, 
we may well suppose that we have upon different por- 
tions of this globe, powers amply sufficient to produce 
ail the disturbances that have ever occurred. 

We might explode a few hundred pounds of gunpow- 
der in the atmosphere, a thousand feet from the earth, 
and the effect would be comparatively trivial, but place 
that amount beneath the earth's surface in an extended 
cavity, and ignite those explosive materials by an incon- 
ceivably powerful Electro-Magnetic battery, we then 
might find the results to be very terrible. When we 
take into consideration that such elements exist in 
vast quantities in the bowels of the earth, together with 
all the inflammable and explosive gasses, that large cav- 
ities maj be found in which they are stored away, and 
that the Electro-Magnetic currents are permeating 
every portion of the crust, for several miles in depth, 
we need not be surprised that we have occasional trem- 
blings, and quakings upon the surface, and that some- 
times they are attended b}^ very serious disasters. Nei- 
ther need we be surprised that islands are often times 
thrown up from the deths of the sea, for we are contem- 
plating powers that are equal to any such emergency ; 
powers that are brought to bear in the propulsion of 
worlds in their orbits with such terrible velocity, and 



EARTHQUAKES. 157 

that first gave momentum, and serve to continue the ac- 
tivities of the machinery of not only our solar system, 
but all the solar systems in the broad universe. 

There is little need of traveling beyond the realms of 
universal nature, and searching after far fetched causes 
for the production of the grandest result that has yet 
occurred. All we require is to become familiarized, and 
form an acquaintance with the spirit or soul of those 
things that are scattered with such profusion all around 
us, and which we have been so apt to overlook in our in- 
vestigations and researches after truth. It is difficult 
to discover how an intelligent man can stand and wit- 
ness the terrible operations of the Electro-Magnetic 
forces, behold them make an attack upon a sturdy oak 
of the forest, and in the twinkling of an eye, rend it 
from its topmost branches down to the roots in a thous- 
and fragments, scattering them to the four winds, and 
still be at a loss for natural forces that can produce the 
occasional vibrations of an earthquake. 

But, as we are called upon to offer some reasons why 
earthquakes are at times so extended in their influences, 
as those spoken of in previous pages, we confidently re- 
ply, that none have as yet been more extended, or sha- 
ken more territory, than is occupied by the Electro-Mag- 
netic currents, and if there is any wonder, it is that so 
many of the shocks are so limited in their extent, for 
we find these elemental currents running from the north 
to the south pole unbroken, and that these wires are in- 
terwoven by others of the aural element that are cross- 
ing at right angles, making a complete web of interwo- 
ven filaments that extends to all portions of the globe, 
and that there are very many of these webs both above 
14 



158 EARTHQUAKES, 

and beneath the surface of the earth. They are the 
real bolts and bands that hold the entire superstructure 
together, as we have said, and that prevent the dissolu- 
tion of the mighty fabric. Suppose now, we produce a 
derangement of any portion of the Electro-Magnetic 
wires, or bolts and bars that bind the material elements 
of the globe together; are we not liable to extend the 
vibrations out upon the currents or wires? the same as 
an electric shock may be communicated upon wires 
to any given distance, thus transmitting messages across 
the ocean or around the globe. It is quite possible that 
disturbing forces maybe entirely sufficient to break and 
tear asunder these nervous net works of the physical 
globe, and produce all their disastrous consequences 
upon the surface. 

Thus we discover that the disturbances do not orig- 
inate in the coarse, granitic and earthy particles of our 
globe, but in the essential elements of the mineral king- 
dom, in the spiritual essences of the whole fabric ; and 
when such is the case, the grosser material must, of 
course, experience the natural results. If any of the 
bolts and bands that hold the structure intact, and pre- 
vent its dissolution, are disrupted or sundered, we may 
not wonder that certain portions of the great crust or 
shell should show signs of disruption also, and present 
fearful cracks, and that cities and islands should be swal- 
lowed up in the cavities beneath. We trust the reader 
may discover that we have ample powers within reach of 
the earth's surface to produce all the disturbances that 
have ever occurred, and not only that, but to raise all 
the mountain ranges that are found upon the surface of 
the globe, for if these elements that are superior to all 



EAETHQUAKES. 159 

other physical forces, will not accomplish the most stu- 
pendous work that can present itself to human observa- 
tion, then we shall be compelled to call upon feeble, 
puny children, to perform the labors of full-grown gi- 
ants, for all other forces that can be found in nature's 
great laboratory, bear such a relationship to the super- 
eminent positive and negative elements which contain 
within themselves all the essential powers of all there is 
to be found in this mundane sphere. 

We are not compelled to resort to an interior imagin- 
ry pow r er to produce the vibratory movements of the 
earth, during these shocks, for it is utterly impossible 
for an intelligent mind to discover any rational mode of 
application of powers existing in such a form, and gen- 
erated in such a mighty cauldron, that would produce 
results of the character that have been experienced 
upon the earth's surface, in the shape of earthquakes, 
with all the various phenomena that usually attend those 
physical disturbances. 

It does not seem to be pertinent to our subject to give 
an exposition of all the minutiae that attend the phenom- 
ena of earthquakes, as in support of our hollow globe 
theory, it is simply necessary to disconnect them with 
any great mass of internal molten lava and show that 
we have other powers sufficient for their production. 
It is entirely sufficient for our purpose to present some 
leading ideas in connection with those remarkable tellu- 
ric disturbances, leaving the minute particulars of this 
mighty problem for those who have the requisite quali- 
fications as well as time to devote to subjects of this 
character. 

We may say in conclusion ; when we arrive at a clear 



160 EARTHQUAKES. 

and comprehensive knowledge of the relationship exist- 
ing between the universal animal economy, and this 
physical globe from which all their powers and peculiar 
confirmations are inherited, we may obtain a more in- 
telligent view of many of the marvelous occurrences in 
nature, that are so mystified at the present. Every an- 
imal must certainly derive all its peculiarity of construc- 
tion with every element in its nature, from the earth, 
and if it is provided with a nervous system that perme- 
ates every muscular fibre, then the physical globe must 
have something of this character, for it assuredly could 
not have imparted to the animal, what it did not possess 
itself in an eminent degree. 

Then we think it will be clear, that this great phys- 
ical structure must also be endowed w T ith a mighty nervous 
system permeating every portion of the alluvial and 
sedimentary covering, which lying contiguous to the ex- 
terior, enwraps the granitic frame work in the same 
manner as the bony frame work of the animal is covered 
by a complete envelope of fleshy or muscular fibre. 

If any little disturbance of this nervous network in 
the animal or human structure, is attended bv tremors, 
why should not similar disturbances of the fluid ele- 
ments in the physical globe be attended by similar re- 
sults? We trust by a careful consideration of these 
fundamental principles, the reader may clearly under- 
stand many of the remarkable phenomena that have so 
puzzled the minds of eminent scientific observers, and 
we also trust that a perusal of the succeeding pages will 
throw a flood of light, not only upo;i the subjects al- 
ready noticed, but very many others of great interest to 
reflective minds. 



CHAP. VI. 

MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL FORCES. 

The positive and negative, the male and female ele- 
ments exist everywhere, and permeate all things through- 
out the entire universal realms. These elements pervade 
the mineral, the vegetable and the animal kingdoms 
of our world; they exist in all the complicated ma- 
chinery that has been brought into activity, in the pro- 
duction af our earth, with all its varied appurtenances. 
Aggregations of material particles in any form, cannot 
be generated and produced, unless preceded by the ac- 
tive union of these two counter elements. The impon- 
derable agents and forces cannot be brought into activ- 
ity, and perform their allotted functions, unless they con- 
tain within themselves the positive and negative, the 
male and female elements. But for a continuation of 
the forces generated by these counter elements, our 
world would cease its revolutions, day and night would 
no more succeed each other, motion w T ould resolve itself 
into inactivity, and rest in the quiet embrace of 
eternal death. It is evident these elements permeate 
all things visible and invisible, that they have existed 
in, and are inseparable from the fountain of all spirit- 
ual essences and material particles; they are a part and 
parcel of the great w 7 hole of spiritual and material ex- 
istence from which all things visible and invisible have 



162 FORCES. 

I 

emanated, and been produced. Hence, there can be no 
material particle, or no elemental, spiritual force in the 
natural universe, divested of those male and female ele- 
ments, and in all our researches after proximate truths, 
and inquiries in the great fields of nature for the laws 
by which her varied departments are governed, and the 
innumerable processes she has made use of in her labo- 
ratory, in developing so much that is grand and beauti- 
ful, we must keep the idea constantly in view, that 
these counter elements diffuse themselves throughout all 
things, and have so done from all eternity. Whenever 
we lose sight of this self evident fact, our minds are 
liable to be clouded,by mists, and wander off into the re- 
gions of uncertainty and doubt 

Perhaps one prominent reason why philosophers and 
scientists have sometimes failed so signally in arriving 
at the real truth concerning facts and phenomena that 
present themselves to view, may be the prevailing igno- 
rance, and lack of comprehension concerning the spirit- 
ual realms, where the causes are found that precede all 
known effects, for evidently, the prime causes of all facts 
and all phenomena originated in the spiritual, or the so- 
called immaterial, and have existed before the results 
were made known to mortal vision. Hence, it is im- 
portant if we would reason upon, and understand clearly 
those things we do see, that we should by some 
means form an acquaintance with the realm of causes, 
that we cannot see, and become familiarized with the 
spiritual essences in which all these causes lie hidden. 

Children sometimes ask questions that older people 
cannot answer, and they most probably made inquiries 
many thousand years in the past, that taxed all the men- 



FORCES; 163 

tal powers of their elders, the children of a larger growth. 
There was evidently a desire upon the part of some per- 
sons in the long ago to answer the queries, and solve 
some of the difficult problems that would naturally- 
present themselves to inquiring minds. Reflective 
minds have early learned to inquire who made the world 
and themselves, and how and why they were left to 
drift about as waifs upon its broad surface, and those 
perhaps who have been more matured, have vouchsafed 
a reply, and said that God our father, made it in six 
days, together with all the other worlds, and then made 
man from the dust of the earth, and a woman from one 
of his ribs, and told them to multiply and propagate 
their species, that the earth might be inhabited, and we 
find ourselves here as the result of that act, upon the 
part of God. But the mind still unsatisfied, queries 
who is God, and who made him and endowed him with 
power and ability to build worlds, and people them with 
animals, and men and women? And the inquirer has 
been put off with the remark that hidden things belong 
to God, and revealed things to man, and that it is wick- 
ed to ask questions that are beyond our understanding, 
and that we must be satisfied with what is given us to 
know. 

We claim, however, that it is not impious, nor does it 
manifest any want of reverence for superior or divine 
authority, to institute any proper inquiry concerning 
matters, in which we have a direct and personal 
interest, for every person must have such interest in the 
causes and various forces that were brought into activ- 
ity in the production of this marvelous world and its 
multitudinous inhabitants. So every question is perti- 



164 FORCES. 

nent and legitimate, which if answered correctly, would 
throw light upon this great subject, or in any manner, 
lead to a solution of the great problem of life with all 
its possibilities. Therefore, if this God made us, and 
is our Father, and he introduced us into this world as 
his children created in his own likeness, why should we 
be deprived of the privilege of making some inquiries 
in relation to our Father and Grand-father also, or any 
of our ancestors with whom we hold a direct personal 
relationship ? It must certainly be a legitimate inquiry 
why our father who was a builder of worlds, did not 
transmit to his posterity whom he formed in his own im- 
age and likeness, the same powers he himself possessed, 
also, why he has not given us as children, some informa- 
tion of a rational character, upon the extremely inter- 
esting subject of our origin and final destiny. We 
claim it as an inherent right existing within us, to make 
any and all inquiries concerning our ancestors, as much 
as it would be for our father to inquire concerning his, 
and we doubt not humanity in the coming ages, will ex- 
ercise this right to the last verge of possibility,and push 
the^r inquiries and researches in all directions, and use 
all available means in following out their investigations 
in any manner that would tend to illuminate the mind 
concerning the great problem of their own existence. 

If we can find the birth place of primal causes in the 
material realms, then we need go no farther, but if not, 
then we must trace existing effects back to their original 
spiritual antecedents, in order to arrive at the necessary 
essential elements that will enable us to bring some of the 
problems presented, to a satisfactory solution. We of 
the present age are still propounding the same very ap- 



FORCES. 165 

posite questions, and asking from whence all this pano- 
rama of magnificent effects that we behold spread out 
before us in such multitudinous and beautifully varied 
forms. Still the same unsatisfactory answer comes from 
the.. theological world; God made them; and the philos- 
opher groping in an immense field of mazy darkness, 
vainly endeavors in the material realms to ascertain the 
more spiritual causes that have been productive of such 
grand results, and so each succeeding generation in their 
turn, offer us a new set of opinions in relation to many 
of the facts and phenomena of which the human vision 
takes cognizance. 

We have noticed the existence of certain elemental 
forces, or spiritual essences that are positive or negative, 
male or female in their character, and that these forces 
may exist separate from the gross material particles, and 
we trust it will be found that all aggregations of matter 
are produced by such pre-existing superior forces, and 
that these primal causes have been brought into activity 
in molding all forms or accretions of materialized atoms. 
The forces which pre-existed and gave form to the ac- 
cretions of materialized particles, being invisible to us, 
may be properly termed the spirits or spiritual essences 
that exist in all forms of matter, through which they ex- 
press themselves to our vision, and if such forces may 
exist separate and independent of the visible, material 
forms, then it follows that such forms or aggregated 
atoms do not add to the original power of the pre-ex- 
isting spiritualalized forces. Thus we see all forms or 
aggregations of matter must have had a spiritual es- 
sence which acted as a pre-ordinate cause for the pro- 
duction of the form, and if so there must have been a 



166 FORCES. 

spiritual essence or form to the globe we inhabit, con- 
taining all the forces that now exist in the structure, for 
as we have said, the aggregation of the particles com- 
posing the globe, has not added to or diminished those 
forces that pre-existed, because they are eternal essences 
and were brought into activity before the globe was 
formed. Hence, we discover that the particles which 
compose our world, have taken their respective places 
in accordance with certain forces that have pre-existed, 
which are essentially spiritual in their nature, and being 
sublimated and finer than gross matter, they are more 
powerful and exert authority over such particles, and 
we trust we shall find that magnetism and electricity are 
essentially spiritual forces, although they may be a 
sublimation of material atoms, and that these two great 
positive and negative powers were brought into activity, 
by union and contact with each other previous to the 
grosser materialized formation of our mundane sphere. 
If we admit that material atoms are eternal entities, 
we may well suppose that the more etherialized essences 
that may exist independent of the grosser atoms, are 
eternal also, which being spiritual, must be a part of 
the great fountain of spirit existence, and as the pro- 
jectors and builders of our world, must have been spir- 
itual beings who could not come in direct contact with 
grosser substances, they of necessity must have made 
use of the spiritual forces that now seem to permeate 
the entire material globe, for the purpose of attracting 
and giving form to the more materialized elements. 
Hence, there must have been previous to this visible, ma- 
terial globe, a spiritual structure of the same form, and 



FORCES. 167 

similar dimensions governed by those spiritual forces 
that have exerted controlling influence in giving form 
and dimensions to the gross material of which our globe 
is composed. In other words, if our world was the pro- 
duction of intelligences in a spiritual condition, they 
must have used such materials as they could handle and 
control, and with which they could come into contact; 
they must of necessity, at first, have constructed a 
globe from spiritual materials, or from those finer es- 
sences that pervade all things, and which being more 
powerful and active, exert a controlling influence over 
the grosser material atoms. Spiritual workmen that 
cannot well handle the granite or bricks and mortar that 
compose our buildings, or the massive stones of the 
pyramids may do much better, they may handle and 
control the more powerful essential spiritual elements ; 
they may use for the accomplishment of their purposes, 
the etherealized essences of the mineral kingdom, and 
produce their vast spiritual superstructures, and then 
time and the positive active forces will accomplish all 
the rest. They may build their spiritual world in the 
first place from aura, magnetism, electricity, caloric, va- 
por, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon and all other 
spiritual elements; they may make a complete nervous 
network or skeleton of such materials, and no human 
vision could discover that any such world was in exist- 
ence, although it might contain all the forces and pow- 
ers, and movements, that it ever would contain, after this 
nervous elemental framework should be completely 
clothed with inactive and gross material particles. It 
contained all the life essences before and when it be- 
came materialized, it only added just so much of death, 



168 FORCES. 

that life and death and all other opposing elements, 
might find therein a dwelling place, for those opposing 
elements, as we have said, are a necessity, that all thing? 
may be kept in activity. There must be life and 
death, cold and heat, light and darkness, love and ha- 
tred, joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure. Each element 
must have its opposing force, each positive must have its 
negative, and each male its female, or all things would 
stagnate, become torpid and die. 

So we perceive that the spiritual pre-existed, and 
the material followed as a sequence, and is entirely de- 
pendent upon the spiritual for the form in which it is 
presented, and, that this form cannot to any considera- 
ble extent, be dependent upon gravity or centrifugal 
force, for its production, as both these forces are entirely 
subordinate and dependent, the one upon motion, and the 
other upon aggregated particles for their existence, as 
they do not act independent of these concomitants. 
There can be no such thing as centrifugal force, until 
you first give some body of matter a tangential motion ; 
it is generated in this manner, and without such motion, 
no force of that kind can exist, so it is by no means an 
independent pow T er, and gravitation is also entirely de- 
pendent upon aggregations of material particles, and 
without such, there is no gravity, it is but the symbol of 
inactivity and repose or death, and depends for its ex- 
istence entirely upon the negative principle called vis 
inertia, or the power of lying still. We shall learn that 
both these forces are subordinate and comparatively fee- 
ble in their character, and they have had little to do 
with producing the configuration of our globe, as neither 
of them could by any possibility come into activity, un- 



FORCES. 169 

til the configuration was a well established fact. If 
gravitation and centrifugal force were the primal causes 
that ultimated in the graceful curves and outlines of 
this physical globe, they must have been brought into 
activity before the material formation existed, but as we 
find these two powers are entirely dependent upon the 
pre-existence of matter and motion, we shall be com- 
pelled to look for causes that existed earlier, and are 
more potent in producing results, and in our researches 
we shall, no doubt, find the above named forces acting 
in a less important capacity, of which we may speak 
hereafter. 

It would seem that a clearer understanding of the 
great fact that all the great forces and powers, the laws 
and principles that exist and permeate through all ma- 
terial forms in this universe, are essentially spiritual, 
and only express themselves to our vision through the 
material forms, will enable us to look in a proper direc- 
tion, and open to us the great fountain of universal 
causes, and that philosophical minds illuminated by this 
grand discovery, will arrive at conclusions with vastly 
less labor and study, and with increased assurances 
when thus found, of their correctness and greater prox- 
imity to real truth. Reasoning from the material 
plane, we are continually involved in the mists and shact- 
ows and clouds that are thereunto attached, because we 
are only in the realm of effects, where men have been 
pursuing their researches with but partial success, very 
far away from that diviner region of more spiritualized 
causes that exist entirely beyond the material sphere. 

We come now to a more minute consideration of those 
elements or spiritual essences that seem to permeate the 



170 FORGES. 

material or mineral kingdom, and the relationship that 
seems to exist between the grosser and more etherealized 
substances that may be found attached to the globe we 
inhabit. In pursuing our researches in this direction it 
would be well for us to learn that all the more ethereal 
essences are eliminated from grosser matter, by a disso- 
lution of the particles in which they have existed. If 
we wish to obtain the alcoholic essences from the grain, 
we must bring some solvent to bear sufficiently powerful 
to separate the spirit; this is usually done by distilla- 
tion, and caloric is evidently the solvent that is brought 
to bear. A somewhat similar process will release the 
essential oils or spirit of all known vegetables. Caloric 
or heat is also a solvent that will release vapor which is 
the spirit of the waters, by a dissolution of the aqueous 
particles or globules. It also seems to be very well un- 
derstood that the spirit of the man or woman escapes 
by a dissolution or decomposition of the material parti- 
cles of the physical, or to say the least, those effects quite 
speedily follow the departure of the spirit. 

We may very properly term the more refined essences 
and elements that exist in connection with the earth, 
the spirit or spirits of the grosser materials found in 
the mineral kingdom, and as all essences and elements, 
primates and ultimates, simples and compounds, have ex- 
isted in the granite, it will be understood that some of 
those refined essences hold a near relationship to this 
original formation, and may be very properly termed 
the spirits of the granite, which have been eliminated 
by a dissolution of the gross particles of that primary 
rock. It will doubtless be conceded by most geologists 
that at some period in the earth's history all was gran- 



FORCES, 171 

ite, and that the sedimentary deposits could not have 
been formed unless some powers or forces had been 
brought to bear sufficient to tear those rocks in pieces, 
and dissolve the atomic particles of which they were 
composed. Such being the case we very readily discov- 
er that this operation would have released those finer 
essences or gasses that we may term the spirit of the 
rocks. If all existed in the granite originally, then it 
is plain that all must have remained there in an eternal 
prison house, unless the atomic particles of the granite 
could have been entirely decomposed, and when that 
took place, then of course, all essential elements might 
readily escape. 

Chemists have found over sixty simple substances that 
have emanated from this source, during the inconceiva- 
ble period of time since this decomposition commenced, 
and geologists have found immense deposits of stratified 
rocks several miles in depth, which are the direct result 
of this dissolution of the original particles of granite. 
It will be noticed that a large proportion of these sim- 
ple elements that have made their escape from the dis- 
solving granite, are but sublimated essences that cannot 
be seen, or tasted, or smelled, and that are not recog- 
nized in any manner, by our unaided sensuous nature ; 
they are but simple gasses or the spiritual essences of 
the mineral. Such are hydrogen and oxygen, nitrogen 
and carbon, and those gasses or essences evidently bear 
the same relationship to the mineral kingdom, that cer- 
tain forces existing in the animal economy bear to the 
material substances of which their organisms are com- 
posed, and all this seems to occur for the very good rea- 
son that the animal organism has inherited all that it 



172 FORCES. 

possesses from the mineral, and it certainly could have 
inherited no characteristic from the parent, unless the 
parent had such to bestow. Hence, we discover the 
close relation existing between the two, and we observe 
if the animal or human are endowed with spiritual es- 
sences and attributes, the earth from which these pe- 
culiarities were received, must possess something of 
an analogous character also, and we are driven to the 
conclusion, that our mother the earth, is endowed with 
a spiritual as well as material nature, and that the pos- 
itive and negative, the male and female forces are essen- 
tially the spiritual powers that gives the great super- 
structure, life and activity, and enable her to perform 
all her varied functions. 

If the mind should revert back to that period in the 
earth's history when all the elements and essences with 
which it is so beautifully clothed and enveloped at the 
present time, were contained in the primary granite, we 
would, of course, behold naught but one wide spread 
scene of desolation and death. No mountain ranges 
had yet appeared, for the accumulation of antagonistic 
forces were yet insufficient to produce such stupendous 
results. No atmosphere or water, for no nitrogen, oxy- 
gen, hydrogen or carbon had yet escaped from their 
prison house, and without such essential ingredients, 
neither of those important elements could be produced. 
We might have beheld one wide extended plain where 
undisturbed harmony held universal control, and noth- 
ing would have greeted the vision but a smooth contin- 
ued surface of unbroken granite, undisturbed as yet by 
the belligerent powers that were destined to produce 
Buch fearful revolutions io the future. 



FORCES. 178 

Those powers had up to this period expended their 
forces in materializing and solidifying the etherealized 
elements that had been accumulated and placed in 
position by the spiritual mechanics and workmen who 
had been engaged upon this grand superstructure. But 
the great positive and negative forces were increasing in 
their influence and strength, and evidently preparing for 
the mighty struggle. 

Had some of our modern conservatives stepped upon 
the arena at this geologic period they would doubtless 
have cried out to the jarring elements, "Peace, be Still," 
let all things remain quiet and harmonious, and do not 
disturb the fair face of nature or waken her from her 
slumbers. But as progressive development is an eter- 
nal attribute of nature, that has ever kept even pace, 
during all her multitudinous changes and modifications, 
those mighty positive and negative powers continued to 
accumulate until they were able to rally their forces, 
and march forward in the terrific work of dissolution, 
and until the exterior portions of this rock-ribbed shell 
succumbed to the general devastation, and the smooth 
surface of the old granite formation was rent and torn 
asunder, ground to powder, and left in one wild state of 
disorder and confusion. Out of this death and wide 
spread destruction came forth a new and higher life and 
animation, for the spiritual essences so much needed 
upon the surface, began to be set free that they might 
ultimately unfold into this grand scene of beauty and 
glory that is presented to our vision at the present day. 

As a result of this apparent universal ruin, we find 
upon the earth's surface, many remarkable subli- 
mated elements, among which are fire and water, the 



174 FORCES. 

one positive, the other negative; they seem to occupy 
positions directly opposite to each other, and never come 
in contact unless they enter into a mortal combat ; they 
fight to the death, and the weaker is always compelled 
to yield to the stronger whenever they come together. 
Philosophers have talked learnedly of fire, but they have 
simply told us of its effects, without giving us much in- 
formation concerning its constituent essences. The 
child very soon learns that fire will burn, and it would 
seem that science had advanced but little farther. We 
may call it the lower positive element, and a coarse dilu- 
ted form of magnetism, while water may be considered 
the lower negative element, and the most diluted form 
of electricity. The one so little understood, yet so 
powerful and destructive in its operations may be con- 
sidered a positive or male spirit of the mineral and the 
other composed of two invisible gasses combined with 
electricity, may be termed a negative or female spirit 
eliminated from the same source. The two elements 
seem to be scattered profusely upon the face of the 
earth, open to the inspection of every intelligent mind. 
Water is very inactive, quiet, and harmless, unless 
acted upon, and in conjunction with more positive 
forces, as gravitation, heat, or perhaps atmosphere. 
Either of these forces may produce violent agitation, 
and activity in the watery element, and render it ex- 
tremely powerful and destructive. It is gravitation 
combined with this fluid, that produces the mighty cata- 
ract and the rushing torrent. Heat conjoined in suffi- 
cient quantities with water, renders it a solvent for much 
of the mineral kingdom, produces violent ebullition and 
activity, and it becomes destructive of all forms of or- 



FORCES. 175 

ganized life, while without these combinations, it is qui- 
escent and harmless, and is the natural abode of untold 
billions of living organisms. But from this element 
which is found atthe bottom, or is the least active of the 
negative forces, may be evolved a power higher and al- 
together superior, that is denominated aqueous vapor, 
and we find that it is produced by a dissolution of the 
particles of water, for as vapor is produced, the water 
disappears, hence, there must be a solvent, a superior 
power positive in its character, that can act upon water 
in such a manner as to eliminate this more sublimated 
element called vapor, which when evolved, is so much 
more expansive and powerful in its nature, for vapor 
when found in conjunction with the requisite amount of 
caloric becomes exceedingly active and forcible. It has 
risen entirely above gravitation, become superior to that 
subordinate force and knows no up nor down; it has be- 
come an etherealized power independent of all more 
materialized elements and acts upon them in a manner 
that renders it of immense value to the human race. 

It is said that steam or vapor at a given heat, seeks to 
occupy 1,800 times the space required by the water from 
which it was evolved, and that all its force depends 
upon this power of expansion; but we are compelled to 
conclude that steam not only acquires the power of 
expansion in consequence of the sublimation of its 
particles, but an increased activity and power by its 
conjunction with the positive element, caloric. We 
think there is an important principle involved here 
which when properly understood, may throw much 
light upon some subjects that seem to need illumi- 
nation, and perhaps we may claim the indulgence of the 



176 FORCES. 

reader, if we are somewhat prolix in our exposition. 
The purpose is to show the intimate relationship exist- 
ing between so-called spirit and grosser materials; that 
they are not only very nearly connected by indissoluble 
ties, but, that the two are essentially one, existing in 
different conditions. 

It is very plain that if steam or vapor has been 
evolved from the water, and it is a more sublimated and 
powerful element than the latter, then some force must 
have acted upon the particles of water, in order that 
this change of condition could be produced, and it will 
only be necessary to examine the processes by which 
this common result is obtained, to "find a solution of the 
whole matter. We have learned that the two opposing 
elements, fire and water, cannot be safely brought into 
immediate contact, as they enter into a conflict that 
must terminate in the subjugation of the one or the oth- 
er. So water may be placed in an iron vessel or boiler, 
and the fire introduced to a suitable apartment under- 
neath, and we perceive the iron is a perfect safeguard 
between these two contending parties; tbey cannot pos- 
sibly injure each other, and no result would follow, but 
for the fact that from this so-called fire which cannot 
enter into the boiler, is evolved a more sublimated es- 
sence denominated heat or caloric ; an element whose 
particles are so diminished and minute, that the solid 
iron of the boiler presents no barrier. Thcv walk through 
the insterstices between the particles of this integument 
so impervious to fire or water, as an army might walk 
through a thickly wooded country or the narrow' streets 
of a city. 

It is this more sublimated, essential element, caloric, 



FORCES. 177 

that enters the steam boiler, and becomes a solvent for 
the particles of water, permitting the escape of this 
powerful element which is now performing so vast an 
amount of the necessary labor of humanity, and con- 
tributing so largely to supply their accumulating wants. 
We shall discover that the negative elements depend 
upon, at least, two conditions for their power and activ- 
ity, the one is the fineness of fluid particles, or the ex- 
tent of sublimation, and the other the joint action of 
the positive element or force, as steam divested of the 
positive element, becomes cold and inactive, it gradually 
condenses, and returns to the original condition, from 
which it was evolved, having lost the positive or active 
element by which it was enabled to enter into the high- 
er, more etherealized state. We find that vapor nearly 
devoid of the positive element, caloric, is quite inactive, 
and steam after it has performed its labor, and mingled 
with the atmosphere, becomes inactive also, because it 
has parted with the spirit that aided in producing its 
power and activity. 

We may here notice that we have found two powers 
or forces of a positive character, and two of a negative 
all evolved from the mineral kingdom; and, as we elim- 
inate steam by a dissolution of the particles of water, 
so we may by dissolving the particles of steam, obtain 
another superior force, evolved therefrom, which is but 
the sublimation of the particles of vapor, and is the 
great negative force known as electricity. This may be 
a term familiar to every one though not fullv understood 
by any one; for, it may well be doubted whether there 
is any living electrician who perfectly comprehends all 
there is to be learned in regard to that subtle element 



178 



FORCES. 



which is now brought into daily requisition in a variety 
of ways in promoting the interests, and subserving 
the purposes of enlightened humanity. Upon the 
other hand by a dissolution of the sublimated 
particles of caloric, we produce another more spir- 
itualized positive element called magnetism, the 
counterpart of electricity, and the essential, sublimated 
element of heat, while electricity being directly oppo- 
site in its nature, and negative in its character, is the 
essential element of cold. We now perceive that these 
two are the great, all powerful elements or forces, the 
one positive, the other negative, superior to all other 
forces or essences that are more gross and materialized, 
and consequently occupy a condition of inferiority, and 
that one or both of these sublimated forces dwell in all 
things in and upon the earth, and exert as occasion may 
require a superior power and controlling influence over 
all terrestrial objects. 




We may discover in the diagram illustrating some of 
the ideas presented in this chapter, in relation to the 
positive and negative forces which rise, one above anoth- 
er in spiritualization and power by a sub-division of 
particles, that caloric becomes a solvent, capable of dis- 
integrating the globules of water, thus permitting the 
escape of the higher element, vapor or steam, and that 



FORCES. 179 

magnetism also acts in a similar capacity upon the va- 
por, and thus assists in the evolution of the great neg- 
ative force, electricity. On the other hand, we may 
learn that either vapor or steam are powerful fire anni- 
hilators when properly applied, and exert positive au- 
thority over that more subordinate element, and that 
electricity exercises the same authority over caloric, 
and that in both instances, the higher elements are 
evolved, thus caloric is generated in the one case, and 
magnetism in the other. 

What now are the operations that have been going on 
in a steam boiler, that finally culminate in an explosion? 
a process which seems to be so little understood at the 
present time, for occurrences of that kind are by no 
means unfrequent, and certainly men would avoid them 
if they comprehended the subject, as somewhere there 
must be a remedy, and at some time the danger of ex- 
plosions must comparatively cease to exist. It is found 
that electricity is generated in large quantities in the 
steam boiler, as well as steam, and that element has 
power to dissolve the particles of caloric, and thus gen- 
erate magnetism. It will be seen that when the boiler 
becomes super-heated, the great positive and negative 
powers have been evolved, and all it requires is a suffi- 
cient quantity of those fluid elements; as the strongest 
boiler that was ever constructed, would be entirely 
incompetent to resist their united force, so we think that 
science will sometime reveal the fact that Electro-Mag- 
netic forces produce the explosion, and then engineers 
may apply a safeguard that will effectually prevent such 
a catastrophe. It has been proved by experiment that 
a boiler will generate electricity much more rapidly 



180 FORCES. 

when insulated or placed upon some non-conducting ma- 
terial ; and, in this manner the aural element has been 
produced bj artificial means, from magnetism and elec- 
tricity thus generated in the insulated boiler. It has 
also been demonstrated, that steam admitted into a re- 
ceiver or chamber, and cut off from the boiler, when 
heated to 1,200° Fahrenheit, parts with all its electricity, 
and that it cannot be condensed, as it becomes simply 
hydrogen and oxygen in their original condition, which 
may be changed to water, or condensed in the same 
manner as any other suitable proportions of the same 
gasses, namely, by the action of a current of electricity. 
So we discover, that water cannot be produced, unless 
it contains the requisite quantity of the electric fluid, 
and we may very properly say, that electricity is the 
great negative spirit of the waters, and it is also the 
spirit that aids in giving force and power to steam. For 
experiment has proven that you cannot increase the ex- 
pansive power of steam, after you have attained 1,200° 
of heat, and further that steam and electricity are both 
powerless and inactive, unless conjoined with the positive 
elements, caloric and magnetism, for it requires both 
positive and negative, male and female to produce 
results. 

We discover, that spiritual essences all through 
the natural realms, are released from grosser materials, 
by a dissolution of the particles, or what we may term 
the death of the material, analogous to that separation 
which takes place at the death of the human body, and 
which permits the spiritual essence to take its departure, 
and leaves the material form to dissolve, and affinitize 
with the particular elements to which it belongs, so the 



FORCES. 181 

positive element or that spirit which brings power and 
activity to the steam, departs Avhen it has performed its 
labor, and passes from the cylinder intotho atmosphere. 

The mineral kingdom from its earlier or primeval 
condition, has been constantly disintegrating, and chang- 
ing form and releasing the more ethereal elements with 
which we are enveloped, and which we require to sustain 
life. The earlier granite formations must have been 
acted upon by the elements, magnetism, electricity, and 
the various essences in the form of fire, air, and water, 
and dissolution has to a wonderful extent taken place, 
and hence the earth has progressed from a lower to a 
more advanced and spiritualized condition, and hence it 
is changing form at the present by the same universal 
law, and will until all of matter, becomes more ethere- 
alized, and less gross than at the present. How far 
this spiritualization of matter shall extend, we leave the 
reader to ascertain by his own reasoning, but we say, if 
progressive development is a universal principle, and all 
things come under the influence of this law, and we are 
convinced that original gross materials have been refined 
and purified to a certain extent, then we may expect 
that this work will go on through the eternities of the 
future, and each one can form his own conclusion w^ith 
regard to results. It w T ould certainly appear, taking 
this view of the subject, that all gross material sub- 
stances would, at some period become refined and spir- 
itualized by processes that are now in active operation, 
but we leave this problem to those who desire to pursue 
the subject. 

We require in order to produce that explosive article 
called gunpowder, seventy-five parts sal-nitre, ten of 
16 



182 FORCES. 

,® 

sulphur, and fifteen charcoal which is nearly pure car- 
bon, and as a result of this mixture, we have manufac- 
tured a granular substance that seems to possess, latent 
within itself, active elements of a wonderful destructive 
character. It is said to have an explosive force of at 
least, 1,500 atmospheres, and that a cubic inch produces 
236 cubic inches of elastic fluid, and I believe science 
teaches that this power contained in the powder, de- 
pends simply npon the expansion of the particles, but 
here a question arises as to the force that causes the ex- 
pansion of the particles, contained in the elements that 
constitute gunpowder. Would the fire that burns these 
black grains produce that result, if there was no other 
element brought into activity? Would fire produce any 
such result upon charcoal or sulphur or sal-nitre, sepa- 
rate under ordinary circumstances? by no means. Then 
it is evident that these materials acquire a peculiar pow- 
er by being mingled, they did not possess when separate, 
that the necessary manipulations in the manufacture, or 
some other cause, has magnetized these particles, and 
given them a positive spirit which may under proper 
conditions when let loose by combustion, unite with elec- 
tricity, and cause the particles to expand to their utmost 
tension, thus producing all their marvelous effects. So 
we shall perceive but for the life energies of the 
two great positive, and negative elements which were 
roused into activity, no explosion would take place, and 
hence we say, that the spirit of the gunpowder passes 
out at the time of the explosion, or the dissolution of 
the atoms of which it was composed. 

Science will object to this idea, and claim that a given 
quantity of powder may be exploded under a bell glass, 



FORCES. 183 

and that all the elements of which it was composed, will 
remain without any diminution of weight, and that it 
may be commingled by a little manipulation, and ex- 
ploded again and again, thus demonstrating that noth- 
ing, or no elementary spiritual force has left the mass by 
the explosion. In replying to this objection, we say, 
that science, before it can demonstrate the fact that no 
spirit has left at the explosion, must collect and re-ex- 
plode the powder, ad infinitum, without any loss of ma- 
terial or force, and when that is done, and not till then, 
will it be proven that no spirit or essence departs at the 
dissolution of explosive materials. It would then also, 
be proven, that those materials contain forces that are 
inexhaustible, and with proper apparatus for saving 
them, they could be applied eternally without being re- 
plenished. 

We simply say the power that carries the cannon-shot 
to its destination, and produces the attendant detona- 
tion, has gone forever, and cannot be restored to that 
same material, but there are plenty of the same ele- 
ments left, that may enter into and take possession of 
the residuum of material, if it can be collected, which 
will perform the same office. 

Thus, we think it will be plain that the two great pos- 
itive and negative forces mingle with all inferior powers 
in nature, and they are constantly brought into activity 
in performing our labors, and executing our purposes. 
But for magnetism and electricity, steam would have no 
expansive, active force, because it would have no life, 
and gunpowder and other explosives would possess no 
such terrible powers, because there would be no element 
to excite the astonishing activities, at the dissolution of 



184 FORCES. 

their material particles, and it is evidently the existence 
of these grand spiritual forces within the particles of 
steam, and explosive materials and their escape at the time 
of their destruction that produce all the wonderful 
effects. 

We have in our researches, seemed to arrive at one 
prominent fact, and we may observe in all the realms 
of nature, that life, activity, and power increase in 
intensity, as material substances are more sublimated or 
become refined. Thus coarse particles like granite rock, 
or anything of a similar character, are apparently inan- 
imate and inactive, and seem to lie in the embrace of 
death, but as you ascend in the scale by dissolution of 
these coarse particles, releasing the more spiritualized 
elements, such as the gasses that constitute air and 
water, you find more life, activity and power, and so 
on as you go up towards the great positive and negative 
powers that stand at the head of materialized, elemental 
forces. Yet the original granite rock contains all that 
there is in the universe, and if our world to-day pre- 
sented nothing but one mass of granite, as it might have 
done in some of the ages of the past, it would never- 
theless contain all the forces and elements that can now 
be found within its precincts. 

Hence, it will be difficult to find the dividing line be- 
tween material and spiritual substances, if there is any 
such line, and tell where matter terminates and spirit 
commences, or which is matter and which is spirit. For 
we shall find whether we call it matter or spirit, it is 
one and the same indivisible element, the spiritual is 
material, and tin; material is spiritual undergoing 
change, and ascending upwards by virtue of the law of 



FORCES. 185 

eternal progress. The higher or more sublimated ex- 
isting in and permeating the particles of the lower, the 
lower being acted upon, and controlled by the superior 
power of the more spiritualized essences that dwell in 
them, which are released when the particles of the 
grosser are dissolved. 

It might be interesting to notice briefly some of the 
uses of the various forces, and observe how they have 
been made subservient in supplying the wants of hu- 
manity, for we dwell in the midst of these spiritual es- 
sences, a combination of which enters very largely into 
our physical bodies, as it will be perceived devoid of 
them, we could not be sustained in life for a single hour; 
they are all necessary to our existence, and contribute in 
a variety of ways to our support. As a mechanical 
power the atmosphere has been made use of since the 
first windmill was erected, and successfully applied to 
grinding and preparing food for our ancestors, they 
were the only mills used by the inhabitants, and this 
uncertain power is still applied to many purposes, al- 
though it is gradually giving way, and being superseded 
by superior forces that are more constant and reliable. 
Wind may be considered a low T grade of mechanical 
force, yet it doubtless, subserved the perposes of our 
forefathers for a long period, both in Europe and Amer- 
ica, before water was called into requisition so extens- 
ively, and before the use of steam w r as known; but this 
is too fast and practical an age, to wait for the uncer- 
tain and fickle winds. 

Water is entirely superior as a power for the propul- 
sion of machinery, because it is more constant and reli- 
able, and very many large cities are built, depending 



186 FORCES. 

entirely upon this power as a basis. Immense manu- 
facturing establishments are operated, that give employ- 
ment to thousands of people, simply from the fact that 
water is a fluid element possessing a certain amount of 
activity, and that by the aid of gravity, it seeks repose 
upon the lowest possible level. We discover then that 
gravity ascends the scale of materialized, elemental 
forces, as high as water and atmosphere, and no higher, 
as we find steam and caloric act entirely independent of 
this so-called power, which seems rather an inherent 
property that is attached to all gross matter. 

In this age of advancement, men have resorted more 
generally to the sublimated particles of water, or 
vapor in a heated condition, thus being excited to great 
activity; and steam becomes the grand motive power, 
used by mechanics in the propulson of a very large pro- 
portion of the machinery applied to many purposes; be- 
cause the apparatus for the generation and application 
of this superior force, can be introduced under almost 
all circumstances, whether upon land or water, station- 
ary or in transit. It may be placed in the boat or upon 
the railway, used for navigating the waters of the river 
or ocean, or for dragging the ponderous train across the 
continent. The farmer, the manufacturer, or the me- 
chanic, may call upon this force to aid in accelerating 
their labors in an endless variety of ways, and find it a 
ready assistant in the performance of a vast multitude 
of arduous duties, and were civilized humanity to be de- 
prived of the use of this great force, by any possible 
circumstance, unparalelled distress would necessarily 
ensue, and perhaps no greater calamity could visit our 
race. We have now become exceedingly dependent 



FORCES. 187 

upon this power for the production of a very large 
number of the necessary articles that are required for 
human consumption. 

We trust we shall find after careful research, that the 
real active elements, the soul or spirit essence of steam, 
is the Electro-Magnetic force, and that devoid of these 
two superior elements, it becomes inactive and lifeless. 
Engineers well understand that the power of steam de- 
dends upon its activity, so we perceive that in the appli- 
cation of this power, we are only using the great posi- 
tive and negative forces diffused with the particles of 
steam, and that more than probable, the time is not far 
distant, when we shall be able to make an application of 
those great powers independent of this adulteration or 
combination with vapor, and that the large amount of 
machinery will be propelled by Electro-Magnetic force, 
and this event only waits until men can learn to gener- 
ate these fluid elements with sufficient economy, and 
render them no more expensive than steam or other me- 
chanical powers. This power is already used extens- 
ively for very many purposes; men have learned to sub- 
due these all-powerful elements in such a manner, as to 
make them obedient servants in the performance of 
many of their requirements ; they compel them to go 
and come, and do their errands, and carry their mes- 
sages from continent to continent, and transact their 
business. Through these agents they hold ready con- 
verse with their friends in distant cities, buy and sell 
merchandise, pay their notes, transfer their property, 
money, or stocks, and attend to all manner of trans- 
actions. After having done so much already, what 
may we not expect in the future, when men shall have a 



188 FORCES. 

better knowledge of these universal powers, and the 
means by which they may procure their aid more eco- 
nomically, and control them more successfully ? 

We have learned that all these forces are composed 
of fluid particles, and that their power and activity de- 
pends upon their sublimation or fineness, and that we 
have not yet reached the extent of etherealization 
of matter, by any means, but that the particles of mag- 
netism and electricity, are capable of subdivision to an 
inconceivable degree ; each time generating forces that 
are superior and more spiritualized, until somewhere in 
the realms of the spiritual, material atoms attain to 
their last limit of divisibility, which limit is entirely be- 
yond the comprehension of the human mind. In fact, 
it is extremely difficult for us to comprehend that mat- 
ter may be sublimated to that condition in which it has 
the power manifested by the Electro-Magnetic elements, 
yet having witnessed their power and learned that they 
are particled substances, we may conclude that still 
higher elements also exist, produced in a similar man- 
ner, by an elimination from the lower, and that the su- 
perior forces are fluid particles likewise. 

Aura is evidently an element that bears a very close 
relationship to the above named forces, and being far 
more sublimated in its character and finer in its parti- 
cles, it acts in various capacities, where the magnetic 
and electric fluids would be powerless, as we discover 
that the latter forces have duties to perform in the phys- 
ical organization, but they can by no means perform all 
the duties required. They may assist in the digestion 
of food, in the circulation of the life currents, in the 
production of the required animal heat, in the separa- 



FORCES 189 

tion of those elements that need to be exhaled and 
ejected from the system; in one word they may perform 
those coarser, less refined operations and processes that 
are continually carried on in the animal economy. Bat 
there are higher duties which require attention that call 
for more refined and etherealized powers, and it has 
long been understood that the human organization was 
pervaded by an element variously called nerve aura, 
odic, or odylic force, which occupies the brain, and the 
whole system of nervous network that permeates and 
extends to the remotest corners of the physical body, 
carrying messages back and forth, and doing the bid- 
ding of the monarch that sits upon the throne of his 
power, in the frontal portion of the cerebrum. 

For the information of the curious in such matters, 
we remark that this is one of the very materials from 
which nature manufactures those spiritual forms and or- 
ganizations with which we enter that sphere of exist- 
ence, that is one step in advance of our own, and we 
discover that this spiritual organization composed of 
aura, and other refined and etherealized elements is 
within us now, and it is this which constitutes us living, 
sensuous beings, and which will live when we cast off 
this outer covering, throw away the bark, and retain 
only the spiritual form. Thus we are permitted to take 
a philosophical and comprehensive view of the great 
change called death, and all the fears and terrors that 
we have entertained upon that subject, may at once be dis- 
missed, as the change is only in the outward and visible, 
while there is no change whatever in the interior, spir- 
itual or more refined organizations. Men will some 
time learn that the spiritual realms are as natural as 



190 FORCES. 

the material, then all fears will cease and there will be 
far less servile bondage in our world, and less reverence 
for a self-constituted priesthood. 

This etherealized essence which is the offspring of 
the Electro-Magnetic fluid, or generated by the male 
and female forces existing in the positive and nega- 
tive spiritualized elements, as we have already remarked, 
frequently displays its glories in the polar regions of 
this hemisphere, and when it exhibits itself to any con- 
siderable extent, the various Electro-Magnetic phenom- 
ena are very much influenced, and telegraphing can with 
difficulty be successfuly performed, showing the very 
close interrelation between the different elements. It 
is the higher development of this etherealized fluid that 
enables the more distant or exterior planets, and the in- 
teriors of all globes to enjoy a sufficiency of genial light 
and warmth to supply all their needs in the absence of 
solar influences. 

There is but one more elemental fluid of which we 
have any knowledge, that is exhibited upon the broad 
face of universal nature, which is more refined and sub- 
limated than aura, and as we have treated upon the lat- 
t.r in some other portions of this work, we may pro- 
ceed to a brief consideration of what we have termed 
in the absence of all other names, empyria, which like 
all elements and powers below this in refinement, is 
the direct offspring, or an elimination from the one 
which is next in order below. It has proceeded from the 
aural fluid essence, and is still more etherealized, and 
refined in its particles, because there are offices to be 
filled and duties to be performed in Nature's vast 
realms, that are entirely beyond the ability of any of 



FORCES. 191 

the forces heretofore named, and hence one that is su- 
perior, and more sublimated than all, must be called 
into requisition. It will be necessary for the student of 
nature to observe, in the consideration of this most re- 
fined and important of the forces, which display their 
varied activities throughout the universal domain, that 
the positive and negative, the male and female, are kept 
distinct until we pass the Electro-Magnetic, and arrive 
at the aural element, where we find a fluid so refined and 
exalted that both these principles concentrate, and are 
entertained within its embraces. That is, at this point 
of refinement, the positive and negative converge, and 
after this condition of sublimation is attained, both male 
and female will be found to exist in a single fluid ele- 
ment, and hence aura being both positive and negative, 
may engender other and higher forces that in their evo- 
lution require the male and female principles; because 
aura is in possession of both, and so is empyria this more 
refined offspring. It is this element that exists in the 
white light, and reflects itself through the solar spec- 
trum in the form of the primary colors. This element 
alone being superior to all others that come under our 
observation, is able under certain conditions, to impress 
itself in the full blaze of the mid-day sun upon the part- 
icles of atmosphere, and display those beautiful scintilla- 
tions beheld in the many colored rainbow. 

If we look abroad at nature's realms, upon our own 
earth, we shall find vast multitudes of living organiza- 
tions, for it would appear that globes are of small conse- 
quence, unless they are peopled with such forms of lite. 
This would seem to be the highest purpose for which 
they can be projected and brought into existence, as 



192 FORCES. 

the smallest animalcule, being a living organization, is 
superior in this respect to the largest concretion of in- 
organic material. Hence, the emiment Jewish teacher 
esteemed a single living soul, of more value than the 
entire inanimate world, and we are compelled to ac- 
knowledge the wisdom of his teaching, and we cannot 

O O 7 

doubt that the intelligence and power that is capable of 
bringing a world to a condition suited to the existence of 
living organisms, can also find the means of producing 
and animating those organisms, without resorting to any 
miraculous or other than natural processes. 

If by the use of forces acting upon materials in ex- 
istence, a world of vast proportions may be formed, 
and developed to a condition in which animal life can 
be sustained, then we may well suppose that the same 
intelligence could find the requisite forces to produce 
the animal life, without going outside the boundaries of 
the universal realms, or resorting to any powers but those 
that are simple and natural. And we must necessarily 
conclude that life and animation are produced by simple 
and natural processes, by the application of laws gene- 
ral in their character, and not in each particular case, 
by the special intervention of some supreme power, or 
infinite intelligence. 

We have discovered in our previous researches, that 
various effects are produced upon this earth, and that 
when such is the case, there must be forces in existence, 
adequate to their production, that the plastic hand of 
nature has been continually at work in bringing all 
things by which we are surrounded, and which are so 
grand and beautiful, into their present condition, and 
each of nature's great powers or forces that we have 



FORCES. 193 

noticed, has acted in a separate and distinct capacity. 
Now we behold another gronp of phenomena that oc- 
cupy a prominent position, and which are grand and 
sublime in the extreme; they are living, moving, breath- 
ing, animated evidences that somewhere in nature's 
great laboratory, is to be found an exalted power that 
is entirely adequate to their production. These phe- 
nomena are connected with the life element that exists 
in the natural realms, and permeates all the varied or- 
ganized living forms, and this sublimated, most spiritu- 
alized fluid that diffuses itself through all nature, en- 
gendering the wonderful principle and power of life, is 
emjpyria more refined in its particles, and eminently su- 
perior in its power, to all the elemental forces known to 
exist upon the earth. 

We have called the reader's attention to the fact, that 
in the materialized organization of our globe, there is 
a region of death, inactivity and darkness ; that out of 
this, by an application of positive elements, come life, 
activity, and light, that gradually and progressively, the 
gross material is sublimated, producing the finer, and 
that the several natural forces assume powers and activ- 
ities, in accordance with the sublimation of the ele- 
mental fluids. Thus rising upon a graduated scale 
through the grand pyramid of positive and negative 
powers, each one having its own distinctive duties to 
perform, the one higher than the other, until we rise up 
to this most etherealized essence of which we are now 
treating, and whose province it is to infuse life, anima- 
tion and activity into all forms of matter that come into 
the proper conditions, and are susceptible to its in- 
fluences. 

17 



194 FORCES. 

Caloric can evidently produce results superior to fire, 
and magnetism has powers far exceeding caloric; on the 
other hand, steam has more power than water, and elec- 
tricity still more than steam, and all these forces seem 
to act in very different capacities, and each one no 
doubt performs an entirely distinct set of duties. The 
aural element being far more refined and sublimated 
than those mentioned, also has its proper sphere of op- 
erations and certain legitimate purposes to accomplish, 
and we discover in the realms of nature, particular 
fields in which these several forces must be brought to 
bear, in order to perform all that is necessary in the 
great mundane work shop. But we still discover 
around us amidst this universal machinery, a higher 
work that is being performed daily, at all times and in 
all places, by some other power that must act in this 
superior capacity, and we are driven to the conclusion 
that nature is provided with a force entirely adequate 
to the accomplishment of this higher, and still more im- 
portant labor. We discover that organized material 
forms are continually being impregnated with the life 
element, and no person that opens nature's great volume 
and scans attentively her pages, can deny the fact that 
in her domain there must be a force which operates in 
this particular department. 

We have written at some length upon these different 
forces in nature, endeavoring to show their positions 
and relationships in the great laboratory, their different 
values and proportionate powers, and also their several 
appropriate spheres of action; and we trust the reader, 
if he does not find this matter clearly set forth in these 
pages, will look out into nature's open book for himself, 



FORCES. 195 

where he may observe the whole machinery in active 
operation, and where he will doubtless discover in the 
varied departments of this earthly sphere, that certain 
labor is to be performed, and certain results are to be 
produced. If so, particular agents or forces must be 
provided to do this work, and produce the several re- 
sults; and these varied operations are being carried on 
continually, in the most harmonious manner. As, for 
instance, the springs which are the sources of our riv- 
ers, and are found in the more mountainous regions or 
the uplands, must be supplied with the requisite amount 
of water, and caloric attends to this duty; he descends 
to the lower parts of the earth, where the vast bodies of 
water are found, enters into the constituent elements of 
the fluid particles, and performs his official duty of de- 
struction and dissolution, which permits the vapor to 
ascend and float away in fleecy clouds upon the denser 
atmosphere, by whose currents they may be wafted to 
the mountain side, condensed in a colder stratum, and 
descend again in the form of rain or snow, thus contin- 
ually resupplying the waters of the mountain streams. 
If we wish an agent that can pass through the appa- 
rently solid iron of the steam boiler, and become a sol- 
vent for the fluid particles within, thus generating 
steam, caloric or heat will perform this feat to our sat- 
isfaction, but it cannot by any possibility attend to the 
duties assigned to magnetism. It can by no means form 
itself into longitudinal currents that will govern the 
magnetic needle which guides the mariner to his desti- 
nation; nor can it generate those frictionizing undulat- 
ing processes that produce light; neither can it combine 
with electricity, and cause the vivid flash and the glar- 



196 FORCES. 

ing forked shaft that sometimes carries destruction and 
death in its rapid march. The Electro-Magnetic ele- 
ments must unite, in order to produce this marvelous re- 
sult, together with an extensive group of phenomena, 
both above and below the surface of this globe. If an 
earthquake is necessary, and we cannot suppose they 
occur unless they are, there are no other powers that 
can be relied upon with any degree of certainty for the 
production of such a result, and the important duties 
of these powerful elements are so extended and various, 
that it would be impossible to present them in this con- 
nection, even if we had the ability; but we may be as- 
sured that devoid of the great positive and negative 
forces, this mundane machine could not have been put 
in operation, neither could it be run for a single hour. 

The aural element also has its own particular prov- 
ince which cannot be filled by any other power; its own 
separate duties to perform that renders the appointment 
of an agent entirely inadmissible. It enters those 
realms where magnetism can scarcely approach, and 
you will find this element displaying his wondrous pow- 
ers upon a scale of unequaled grandeur, in the frozen 
regions of polar night; and no power but this can make 
those brilliant displays under such peculiar conditions, 
and burnish up the Arctic skies with the richly painted 
glories and splendors of the Aurora Borealis. Neither 
can any other force enter into your physical system, as- 
sume the delicate duties it performs there, and go and 
come at the bidding of the monarch that sits upon the 
throne of your intellectual kingdom, for it is well-known 
we cannot lift a finger or raise an arm or a foot, unless 
this ethereal and powerful element is called into requisi- 



FORCES. 197 

tion. We know also, when by any disorganization or 
derangement of the wires or system of nerves upon 
which this force travels and performs its varied duties 
within us, that we begin to suffer, and so continue, until 
a harmonious circulation is restored by a returning 
healthy condition of the nervous conductors or passage 
ways upon which this active energizing element is wont 
to travel. 

We have already discovered still higher duties in the 
natural realms, for some still higher power to perform, 
and consequently, that higher power must exist, in or- 
der that those necessary duties should receive proper 
attention. It is a well-known fact that by the action of 
the galvanic battery, an influence may be brought to 
bear that will produce activity in the limbs of a dead 
frog, or of a dead man, although the nervous activities 
thus produced, are extremely transient; however, from 
the fact that motion and apparent animation is produced 
to any extent whatever, we must conclude that the 
nerves are permeated by something analogous to the vi- 
talizing fluid, or activities could not have been excited. 

And, if by artificial means, this life element can be 
manifested in the least possible degree, in an organized 
body where it had been entirely extinguished, then it is 
a matter of no surprise that in nature's great laboratory 
there may be a power amply able to diffuse this element 
through all suitably organized forms of matter, at the 
proper time, in the entire vegetable and animal world. 
Nor is it surprising, where we discover forces equal to 
the performance of all other duties below this, that a 
power should be provided that may produce this grand 



198 FORCES. 

result, and permeate organized forms with the required 
vitality and animation. 

We trust the ordinary reader whose opportunities for 
scientific acquirements have been limited, and for whom 
this work is more particularly designed, will be able to 
comprehend, that wherever in the great domain of na- 
ture, duties are to be performed, effects to be produced, 
or results accomplished, there may be found in all cases 
adequate forces for the performance of those duties, 
and the production of those effects and results, and 
that there must of necessity exist such a power in 
this particular department. Hence, w T e find this most 
sublimated essential spiritual element, upon the very 
summit of the grand superstructure of positive and 
negative forces, whose potency is not only sufficient 
to infuse vitality into animal organisms, but under prop- 
er conditions, make an exhibition of its existence in the 
fluid atoms of white light, and paint their constituent 
elements in vivid colors upon the screen, or upon the 
atmospheric particles in the overarched canopy, in defi- 
ance of all the powers of the mid-day sun. 

This life dispensing element has its grand insignia in 
the rainbow, and whether this beautiful phenomenon of- 
ficiates as a remembrancer to the covenant making He- 
brew God, or subserves other important purposes, it 
may and doubtless will at some time, convey the inform- 
ation to intelligent humanity, that life and vital essences 
shall always permeate organized, materialized atoms, 
until all spiritual entities have passed through their va- 
ried forms, and until all material substances shall be ex- 
hausted in the performance of their important duties. 
For if it can be proven that any given amount of gross 



FORCES. 199 

material has been etherealized, and contributed its finer 
essences in building up and constituting those spiritual 
beings who have lived, and passed away to inhabit 
higher realms, then we may conclude that more and 
still more of the material world shall be applied in the 
same manner If we pursue this train of reasonimg it 
would seem possible that our globe at some period in the 
eternities of the future, might become so sublimated and 
expanded into spheres, as to render the whole a suitable 
abode for spiritual beings. Thus all things may con- 
tinue in their progressive existence, attaining higher 
and still higher conditions, during those cycles that 
know no termination. 

We apprehend that we may be entitled to the indul- 
gence, and, possibly, commiseration of the enlightened 
reader who has followed these pages thus far, if we 
should modestly express an opinion, that in all cases 
where we have spoken of spiritual elements, essences, 
and fluid particles, we should represent them as being 
permeated by spirit entities, and that the positive ele- 
ments are diffused by real spiritual existences in a state 
of activity, while the negative are a mass of such enti- 
ties, in a condition of inactivity or rest; and, that the 
dazzling splendors that we behold in the sun, are but its 
spiritual spheres inhabited by inconceivable hosts of 
shining spirit intelligences, so innumerable as to defy 
all attempts at mathematical computation, and that the 
solar spots depend simply upon the evolutions and 
change of position of the incomprehensibly numerous 
armies of spiritual beings that inhabit the spheres of 
that central orb. 

The learned Dr. Dick had a conception of the same 



200 FORCES. 

idea, as the reader may learn by referring to page 104, 
Celestial Scenery, in his great work. The eminent au- 
thor could not conceive how evolutions of such immense 
magnitude could take place so rapidly by any of the 
ordinary forces that had come within the reach of 
human comprehension. He evidently entertained a 
vague idea that the marvelous display of rapidly chang- 
ing spots upon the sun's surface, or in its apparent at- 
mosphere, might possibly be caused by the influence of 
spiritual, intelligent beings. We feel perfectly safe in 
making the assumption that this view of the subject is 
far more rational, and will furnish the world a clearer 
and more intelligent exposition of those strange phe- 
nomena, than any that have yet been presented ; for 
what but spirit intelligence with their wondrous activ- 
ities, could perform evolutions so rapidly, and upon so 
grand a scale, as exhibited in those vast, moving spots 
upon the solar surface ; many of which evidently larger 
than our globe, have changed positions, and disappeared 
in a very few hours. Then we may rationally conceive 
that the solar spots are caused by the temporary absence 
of portions of that shining host who inhabit the spirit- 
ual spheres of the monarch of day, and that in conse- 
quence of that absence, the human vision penetrates 
through to the dark electric body within their realms. 
We may also discover that each one of the millions of 
orbs that exhibit their splendors in the sidereal heavens, 
are surrounded by illuminated spiritual spheres, thus 
enabling them to send down their scintillations of light 
which penetrate through the dark regions of intermina- 
ble space, and come in contact with our vision. This 
fact alone is the grand reason why we behold the uni- 



FORCES, 201 

versal displays of stellar glory, that prove such a pro- 
lific source of enjoyment to contemplative minds, not 
only presenting vast fields for study and research, but 
filling their whole interior natures with admiration and 
reverence for those powers that have been competent to 
establish this magnificent and orderly arrangement of 
heavenly bodies throughout nature's universal realms. 

The rapid transitional movements of the Aurora Bo- 
realis, would also indicate the marchings and counter- 
marchings of intensely active, spiritual beings; and we 
will barely suggest that this view might to a certain ex- 
tent, throw light upon that mysterious phenomena. 
Those persons endowed with clairvoyant vision, have no 
doubt, beheld vast armies of such living beings per- 
forming their varied evolutions in the atmosphere or 
heavens above, and it is not very surprising that such 
exhibitions should occur many times, previous to some 
terrible earthly conflict. Hence, they have been con- 
sidered as portentous of war, and as human wars are 
not mere accidents, but are all planned in the spiritual 
spheres, with great precision, it may possibly be, that 
in the management of these human conflicts, they find it 
necessary to practice some of the various military evo- 
lutions that are sometimes presented to the inner vision 
of the clairvoyant, and it is possible also, that the con- 
ditions of the atmosphere in the polar regions, are such 
that a faint outline of the movements of spiritual be- 
ings, becomes visible to our material eyes. 

However all this may be viewed, we are compelled to 
admit that those beings who exist in the spiritual, and 
are more sublimated and positive in their natures, must 
possess great activities, and that they are doubtless 



202 FORCES. 

busily engaged in some deparment of nature's realms 
and if they are not employed with the merry dancers of 
the Aurora Borealis, they must be somewhere else em- 
ploying their time and making themselves useful in the 
universal laboratory of nature where so much is to be 
accomplished. For, as we have before stated, every 
mechanical operation must be performed by mechanics, 
and if these spiritual workmen are able to adjust the ma- 
terials in such a manner as to produce a beautiful world, 
and manipulate the essences necessary to construct the 
delicate eye of the animalcule, then they may safely 
undertake any other mechanical performance required 
in nature's extended workshop. We need not look far, 
before we shall find very numerous mechanical con- 
trivances so intricate in their character, that the human 
mind can form no very distinct conception of the neces- 
sary appliances that are brought to bear in their pro- 
duction ; or the manner in which the materials are ag- 
gregated that gives them their peculiar forms. 

When we behold the beautiful outlines of the majestic 
oak, or more graceful elm, we may well wonder how 
their material particles have been built up into such ap- 
propriate and symmetrical shapes, so that each limb 
and branch, twig and leaf, occupy their proper places, 
and we may very safely conclude that some intelligent 
power has had the supervision, and attended to the dis- 
position of the multitudinous atoms of which the tree 
is composed. The devout religionist says in his solem- 
nity, an infinite God has watched over and supervised 
all this; that, by his all-seeing eye and the might of his 
wisdom and power, he is able to accomplish the minutia 
of all this immense labor upon all worlds. We think, 



FORCES. 203 

however, by taking a more intelligent and harmonious 
view of this subject, we shall be led to conclude that all 
this multitudinous labor has been performed by an infi- 
nite host of spiritual beings who must necessarily have 
an existence, and who are continually working out these 
important purposes in the various departments of na- 
ture, and that real spirit entities have been thus engaged 
from the earliest periods of the history of all worlds. 

Then, if it is conceded that all these curiously con- 
trived mechanical structures, both in the vegetable and 
animal kingdoms, are built up and generally supervised 
by competent spiritual mechanics, it will certainly be- 
come necessary that the mechanics or workmen should 
begin their labors at the time of the commencement 
of the structure. We then perceive it quite possible 
that some of those natural forces or elemental powers 
which seem to be engaged in certain departments, may 
be real spirit entities who are busy in the construction 
of the animal and human forms from the time of 
their conception, until they arrive at maturity, and are 
placed in full possession of every function that prop- 
erly belongs to a perfect animal or human organization. 

If the most simple mechanical production requires 
skill, care, and intelligent labor in the adjustment of all 
its material, how nuch more then, shall such intelligent 
labor be required in the construction of the most intri- 
cate and complicated piece of machinery that has ever 
been produced in our world. For, by the most caretul 
scrutiny of the anatomist and physiologist, who employ 
a lifeiime in the study of the various functions of th6 
animal or human structure, it is still impossible to ar- 
rive at a complete understanding of all that is contained 



204 FOKCES. 

in this complex piece of mechanism, and to acquire a 
knowledge of the manner in which the various materials 
have been aggregated, and brought together in their 
peculiar forms and organizations. 

Strange as it may appear at first view, we are driven 
by a process of reasoning, to the conclusion, that invis- 
ible essences which we call elemental forces are per- 
vaded by spirit entities, performing their activities and 
wondrous labors, and that intelligent beings, perhaps 
extremely diminutive to our vision, are absolutely en- 
gaged in building up the mechanical structure of all 
infantile living forms in the dark recesses of their tem- 
porary uterine abodes, and that it is thus prepared to 
enter the active scenes of the outer world, where an in- 
dependent life awaits its coming. But, whatever these 
workmen are able to do in preparing the structure for 
its entry into the more active scenes, they are unable to 
confer upon it in that condition the independent phys- 
ical, vital principle or element which the infant receives 
after coming in contact with the exalted empyrial es- 
sence which exists in our atmosphere, and which alone 
can produce individualized life and animation in any 
organized being. 

All of life that the unborn infant can enjoy before 
the birth, must be entirely dependent upon the mother; 
it has none separate from her. If the mother dies 
during her pregnancy, the infant dies also, and never in 
any case does it obtain an independent, living existence 
until the lungs that have been prepared for that purpose, 
are inflated with the atmosphere, and the whole system 
is diffused with that essential element which has power 
to bestow life, with all its various phenomena upon the 



FORCES. 205 

organization. Hence, we may discover a sort of in- 
spired truth in that passage, whoever may have been its 
author, which says, the power he calls God, "Breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a 
living soul," as it is absolutely necessary that the 
act of breathing should take place before he can become 
an independent, living being, because the vital portions 
of the physical system must come in direct contact with 
the vitalizing life giving element, before the power of 
life can be received, and the whole machinery can begin 
to act for itself in any such individual capacity. 

How singular that modern science is just now reveal- 
ing to us the great fact that the air we breathe, the 
water we drink, the food we eat, are but one living mass 
of animalcule and infusoria, and that divested of these, 
they would contain none of those life elements, or recu- 
perating forces so necessary in sustaining our continued 
existence. We now may have said upon this subject of 
natural forces all that is pertinent to the matter we have 
in hand; yet we have, probably, scarcely entered the 
wide fields that may yet be explored by succeeding ob- 
servers. 

The few scattering suggestions we have made, may 
perhaps arrest the attention of other minds who will 
have more time to pursue these inquiries, and who will 
be able to present them in a far more lucid and satisfac- 
tory manner. We doubt not it will appear quite evi- 
ident to the intelligent reader, that men have hardly as 
yet entered the portals that lead to the grand fountain 
of knowledge, that science and boasted philosophy are 
but puling infants, that the most eminent men with their 
highest attainments, are still wandering amid a maze 
18 



206 FORCES. 

of uncertainties and shadows. Although they may 
fancy they are now prepared to enter the great temple 
and grasp the most profound principles, and gain access 
to the entire realm of causes, yet in the future they may 
be overwhelmed with the fact that many of their former 
well built fabrics have been crushed out of existence, 
by newer and fresher demonstrations of truth. For we 
cannot suppose by any means, that scientific research 
has reached that point where it may be said, "Thus far, 
no farther shalt thou go," or that the numerous opin- 
ions formed by scientific men in the different depart- 
ments of learning, are all absolute verities. 

We must conclude that change, whose sacrilegous 
hand is continually making its mark upon all things, 
will enter the sacred temples erected by the most emi- 
nent minds, and lay her destroying hand upon the highly 
revered and long cherished ideas of these votaries, and 
trampling under unhallowed feet, their most brilliant con- 
ceptions, will build entirely new fabrics, and establish 
new theories upon the ruins of the old; and thus on, un- 
til man arrives at that period in his development, when 
he shall be able to obtain a clear and comprehensive 
understanding of truth, as it exists in the very soul of 
all things. 



CHAP. VII. 



GRAVITATION. 



Gravitation, to which allusion already has been made, 
would seem to require more than a passing notice, for 
as a power or force it has received a large amount of 
consideration from scientific men of great eminence, 
and when the discovery was made, that such a power 
had an existence, and operated in accordance with fixed 
laws, science seemed to take a long stride, and marched 
on thence forward with more rapid pace. But, we are 
of opinion that gravity has been rated too high in the 
scale of those forces that appear to have been brought 
into activity, and exerted so prominent an influence in 
the production of all visible, tangible things that exist: 
that more, very much more, has been placed upon the 
shoulders of gravity, than this subordinate, dependent 
comparatively inactive power is able to bear. 

We think it will be ascertained that gravity can 
hardly be considered to exist as an absolutely active, 
elemental force, but rather a concomitant of the grosser 
forms of matter, and that its power is entirely depend- 
ent upon the existence, and regulated by the density or 
peculiar quality of the matter over which it seems to 
exert an influence. Gravity as a force evidently has 
no attachment to, or affinity with, or power over material 
particles that become more etherealized than our atmos- 



208 GRAVITATION. 

sphere, and although it seems to act with such potency, 
upon grosser forms under certain conditions, yet if it 
may be termed an absolute force, it occupies but a low 
and very subordinate position. 

We have remarked, that upon this elemental struc- 
ture, the physical globe, all material substances were 
more or less active in accordance with their grossness, 
and as v>e have said, gravity only keeps company with 
the more gross particles, and it will be seen as activity 
ceases, gravity usurps its authority and assumes con- 
trol; for this sluggish force keeps little company with 
the more active elements. It has little control over the 
atmospheric particles, scarce any, over vapor cold, in 
its heated condition, none, and caloric is entirely beyond 
its reach. But when we travel into the realms of in- 
activity, and the nearer we approach the state of quies- 
cence, we call death, the nearer we get to the realm 
where gravity holds his universal reign, because, in this 
gross department of nature, this force seems to exert its 
influences, and affinitizes with the elementary substances. 
So when we approximate conditions of matter which 
is more etherealized, gravity exerts no control; its 
domain evidently finds an impassable boundary, and its 
power, a limit beyond which it cannot go. 

We discover then, that this great power only assists 
those gross material substances over which it exerts a 
controlling influence, to find that repose and rest they 
seem to require; for, being composed of the more inac- 
tive elements, all they require is inactivity and rest; 
and it becomes the duty of this force to carry all such 
rial form- directly upon a straight line, to a position 
M ible, the bosom of the great mother earth 



GRAVITATION. 209 

where they may find the quiet and rest they seem to 
need. This we concave to be the great and prominent 
duty of the wonderful force called gravitation ; and, it 
was acting in the performance of this duty, when it 
brought down the apple that arrested the attention of 
the great philosopher to a consideration of the subject 
which resulted in his very extended theory in relation 
to the movements of the heavenly bodies. His theory, 
however, will most likely be modified and corrected by 
other philosophers, when the proper time arrives. It 
will be discovered that gravitation is not in possession of 
any such reciprocal influence, operating so extensively 
between the different planetary bodies, and that all these 
movements are governed and controlled by no such sub- 
ordinate power, but by real, active, positive and nega- 
tive elemental forces that are competent to extend out, 
reciprocate and affinitize with forces of the same char- 
acter, existing upon other worlds. 

We behold the fluid particles of water, under the 
control of this force, gravity, rushing in the mountain 
torrent down the declivity, and leaping from rock to 
rock, until they find a position in the more placid river 
of the valley, and still under this control, they urge 
their way onward to the bosom of the mighty ocean. 
But this same water is evaporated by a higher power, 
its fluid particles are dissolved, and the vapor is taken 
from the arms of gravity, and carried off upon the cur- 
rents of the atmosphere, to condense again upon the 
mountain tops, and again fall into his embraces. So 
we see different forces are necessary, each one acting 
in its own capacity, thus maintaining a kind of equi- 
librium, in order to preserve the beauties and harmonies 



210 GRAVITATION. 

of nature, and carry on that everlasting round of ac- 
tivities requisite for the continuance of all terrestrial 
things. 

We are informed by science that the plastic hand of 
gravitation, aided by centrifugal force, has had much or 
all to do in rounding out our globe into its present form, 
and in shaping its curves and appropriate outlines; that 
by an eternal law it has rounded the earth in the same 
manner as it renders globular the dewdrop which may 
be suspended from the tip of the leaf. They say na- 
ture's great laws operate with equal force, whether in 
the forming of worlds or dewdrops; but in relation to 
this, we observe that, if you add another dewdrop to 
the one already suspended, gravitation instead of round- 
ing out both, carries them to the ground, and very ma- 
terially interferes with their globular shape. Now, 
what this force would have done with the earth under 
like circumstances, is impossible to tell because our 
globe in a plastic or fluid state, was never so attached 
to the tip end of a leaf, or placed in such condition, as 
regards this element, as was the suspended dewdrop. 

Again, it would appear evident that if gravitation ex- 
erted a controlling influence over this great accretion of 
material atoms composing the earth, which formed it 
into a globe, and if it controls the dewdrop, and forms 
that into a globe also, and the law is so universal as to 
reach the two extremes, then it ought likewise to form 
all accretions of fluid or plastic materials, into globes. 
But, this is by no means the case; for, in every instance 
where gravity exerts any control over fluid or plastic 
materials in any considerable quantities, upon this earth, 



GRAVITATION. 211 

it universally flattens them or gives them a plane upper 
surface. 

Gravity is evidently but a puny, feeble arm of those 
universal Electro-Magnetic forces that pervade all na- 
ture, which is provided for the purpose of reaching out 
and conducting all ponderous bodies that are gross and 
inactive, and inclined to rest, to a place upon the bosom 
of the earth, where they may repose until acted upon by 
some other superior power. It simply acts in this sub- 
ordinate capacity, and here may be found the limits of 
its influence. Gravity is no traveler, who rushes from 
planet to planet, and from world to world, drawing the 
heavenly bodies from their predestined courses, and 
forcing them onwards in their great journeys, but, on 
the contrary, he is a very quiet, stay-at-home old gen- 
tleman, who never ventures from his own domain, or 
travels off to reciprocate or change work with his far-off 
neighbors upon some distant orb. Philosophers have 
called upon the gravity belonging to the moon, to come 
to the earth, all that long journey, and do for us the 
very opposite thing that could be performed by the 
gravity attached to our planet, and they have endeav- 
ored to send our gravity out to the neighboring planets, 
and there make him perform services that he utterly re- 
fuses to do at home. 

It is very plain that this power here upon the earth, 
does exert its influence over all substances that come un- 
der its control, in such a manner as to keep them still 
and quiet, it presses all things down to the earth, and 
expends its power in preventing any movement. It 
would hold the waters of the ocean as quiet and still as 
the night of death, if there was no other force to pro- 



212 GRAVITATION. 

duce an agitation. It would hold all nature in solemn 
stillness and stagnation if there were no other power to 
make things move, and it cannot be denied by any intel- 
ligent man, that the only office which gravity performs, 
is to place all substances under its control where they 
may lie as quiet as possible, and that it holds them in 
their positions, with all the power in its possession. 
This power never exerted the least influence in raising 
or removing in a lateral direction any ponderable body, 
not even so much as the weight of a feather, or the most 
infinitesimal dust in the balance. But philosophers sup- 
pose they have succeeded in importing a gravity from 
the moon and the sun, that performs wonders in that 
respect. It not only in the opinion of some of the 
learned, provides the momentum that propels planets in 
their orbits, by operating in conjunction with other tan- 
gential forces, but by a reciprocal attraction, acts in a 
maimer that confines them to their pathways, and holds 
with a steady arm, the whole machinery together. Not 
only this, but the gravity that comes to us, all the way 
from the moon, they say, reaches down the right arm of 
its power, and to a certain extent, drags the mighty 
waters from their ocean beds, and causes periodical 
tides from three to forty or fifty feet in height, accord- 
ing to conditions and circumstances. It is fortunate 
for their theory, that the moon has this quantity and 
quality of gravity to spare, for we certainly have not 
upon our earth, a sufficient quantity, nor any of the 
kin 'I that can produce such wonderful results. Our 
gravity as we have said, is by no means a disturbing 
element, but would, were there no other forces superior, 
hold all moveable things in eternal quiet and repose. 



GRAVITATION. 213 

Hence, the necessity of importing a peculiar quality of 
gravity from the moon, which has power to produce the 
disturbance and agitation in the waters of the mighty 
deep, and exert its influence in regulating the ocean 
tides. 

Both Newton and Compte, the one a believer in God, 
and the other an Atheist, assumes that vis inertia, grav- 
itation, and motion, are the three essential elements in 
the orbital movements of the planetary worlds; but 
the one supposed these fundamental properties, or states 
of matter, were under the control of a governing mind, 
or a supreme power and will; and that these causes 
were proximate, while the other could perceive no 
evidences of such a controlling power, and conceived 
all causes to be ultimate. The one was compelled to 
call upon the controlling influence, or governing 
mind to produce momentum, while the other involved 
all things, in the irremediable darkness of Atheism; 
each of these philosophers have their adherents and 
followers. 

Dr. Dick, who says of the planets and their motions-, 
"That the law of gravitation pervades and governs the 
whole," remarks that, "The laws of motion originally im- 
pressed upon all the bodies of the system, continue to 
operate as they have done from the beginning," and 
also, "That unless an immaterial power continually re- 
excited motion in the material universe, all motion would 
stop in a very short time, perhaps in less than an hour" 
and further represents that "A presiding Divinity is 
continually exerting his attributes, and impressing 
every part of that universe to which he gave existence." 
Prof. Hare, the great American philosopher and chem- 



214 GRAVITATION. 

ist, who though a confirmed skeptic, embraced late in 
life, Spiritualism, and wrote extensively upon the phe- 
nomena and philosophy, endorsed to the fullest extent, 
the views of Sir Isaac Newton, thus acknowledging, that 
gravitation was only a proximate cause, and that it was 
not by any means sufficient of itself to produce the 
movement of the heavenly bodies, and that it required 
continually from first to last, the eternal activities of 
a God behind this force, in order to enable it to produce 
the planetary movements, and continue the varied evo- 
lutions of the universal worlds. 

While the system of Compte has the darkness of 
Atheism to contend with, in addition to its inefficiency, 
that of Newton requires the re-excitation of motion, or 
a special operation of Divine power to act upon that 
force which he had instituted to perform this part of 
his labor. This shows that he whom they denominate 
the Infinite architect, was unable to construct a self- 
moving machine, or one that would generate the requi- 
site forces for its own propulsion, but, that he has left 
the machinery in that imperfect condition, in which it 
requires his constant and unremitting attention to keep 
it in motion, and that vis inertia, gravitation, and mo- 
tion, are not sufficient, unaided by Infinite power, to 
move the worlds. 

It is not a very difficult matter, here upon our earth, 
to find self-moving machines, that are able to generate 
the power within themselves, by which they perform lo- 
comotion. We find men and animals walking about the 
streets, and performing labors by virtue of powers that 
exist within them. We find also that men have con- 
structed locomotive machines and engines that travel 



GRAVITATION. 215 

upon the land and the water, and they move in obed- 
ience to forces that are generated within themselves; 
they carry their own power with them, and do not de- 
pend upon extraneous forces. Can it be supposed that 
men bring to bear mechanical ability superior in this 
respect to that introduced in the construction of worlds, 
or use powers for propelling machinery contrived by 
them, of which the builders of this world had no idea, 
or do not all mechanical principles have their origin 
in the globe upon which they exist? 

Again, can any mechanical forces be brought to bear 
in the construction of the animal organization, by which 
they perform locomotion, that was not perfectly under- 
stood, and which might not have been introduced in the 
structure of this globe for similar purposes. We may 
look around us where we please, and we shall find none 
of the numerous self-moving machines that are found 
everywhere upon the earth's surface, propelled by that 
force we call gravitation ; for, on the contrary, that is 
the very power which all self-moving machines are com- 
pelled to overcome. 

We think it will appear quite evident, that both New- 
ton and Compte have signally failed in arriving at well 
founded conclusions concerning the forces that are 
brought to bear in producing the varied movements of 
the planetary bodies. The former, after all his philo- 
sophic deductions, and mathematical reasoning, only 
found proximate causes that were entirely unable, un- 
less acted upon by Divine power to accomplish the 
desired result; while the latter taking a materialistic 
view of the subject, considers the same causes as ulti- 
mates, thus making an application of material forces in 



216 GRAVITATION. 

the movement of material objects, independent of any- 
intelligent adjustment of the particles composing the 
objects moved, or direction of the forces brought into 
activity in the propulsion. The one seems quite as far 
from arriving at a solution of this great problem as the 
other. For we cannot conceive that an intelligence en- 
dowed with sufficient ability to build worlds, would un- 
dertake to propel them in their orbits by proximate or 
insufficient forces; neither can we conceive that worlds 
would build themselves, that the atoms of which they 
are composed, could be aggregated in an orderly man- 
ner, and that the forces by which they perform their 
movements, could be collected and applied independent 
of intelligent direction. 

We think upon due reflection, it will be plain to 
every thinking mind, that the forces alluded to by these 
eminent philosophers, cannot by any possibility be pro- 
ductive of such grand results. How can the positive 
school of philosophers pretend that vis inertia, grav- 
itation, and motion, are ultimate causes, when they are 
each one dependent upon gross matter for the simplest 
manifestation they ever produce. 

Certainly, when we obtain forces which are able to 
exert a potential influence in the production, formation, 
and subsequent movement of a world, we shall be com- 
pelled to find those that may and do exist independently 
and previously, to the gross material of which the world 
is composed. We must find those forces that preceded 
in their activities, and rendered it possible that the so- 
called ultimates of the Compte school, could have an 
existence. Vis inertia, gravitation, and motion, are 
acknowledged alike by both schools, to be but states or 



GRAVITATION. 217 

conditions of matter; hence, being dependent upon mat- 
ter for their manifestations, they must be subordinate in 
their character, and by no means, enumerated in the 
list of original causes, but in accordance with the New- 
tonian school they must be considered proximate or sec- 
ondary. As, we plainly perceive, there can be no vis 
inertia, unless there are first gross particles of matter 
that lie still; until there are larger accretions for them 
to rest upon. Gravitation cannot exist until there is a 
mutual relationship established between two material 
bodies, one apparently exerting power over the other in 
consequence of superior size and density. Motion is 
evidently the positive of vis inertia, and being but a 
state or condition of matter, can only be produced by 
real, absolute elemental causes that exist independent 
of motion or matter. 

In view of this reasoning it will be quite impossible 
that gravitation has had anything whatever to do in giv- 
ing momentum, or in guiding and directing the orbital 
course of this or any other planet, or that it has exerted 
any very extensive influence in producing the form, or 
curving the outlines of this globe. But by a careful 
inspection as we have said, we shall doubtless find it 
comparatively an inconsiderable power, and that it only 
acts in the absence of those elementary forces which are 
entirely superior in their character. Gravitation is ev* 
idently confined in all its operations to the most inactive 
and gross matter, and is by no means a disturbing ele- 
ment, but, rather in every instance where it exerts en- 
tire control, produces quiescence and repose. Doubt- 
less, if there was no other force upon our globe, supe- 
rior to gravity, whether of that peculiar kind belonging 
19 



218 GRAVITATION. 

to this world, or an article imported from some other 
planet, all things upon the earth would most surely rest 
in eternal stillness, and universal death would reign su- 
preme. 

When particles of material take their respective 
places in organized forms of life, either in the vegetable 
or animal world, if they were acted upon only by this 
force, they would, as a matter of course, descend to the 
bottom, and all forms would be built upon the principle 
of stratification, being far the largest at the base, and 
the tree or the animal would necessarily be formed with 
enormous roots or feet, in proportion to the upper parts 
of the structure. In fact, the vegetable and animal 
world would present little more than innumerable strat- 
iform concretions, as all such organizations have been 
elaborated from materials in a fluid state. But, we as- 
certain forces entirely superior to gravitation, are ac- 
tively engaged in arranging the molecules in the vegeta- 
ble and animal organisms, and in placing them where 
they are severally required. There are systems of art- 
erial and venous passage ways leading to the remote 
corners of the animal structure, and an apparatus for 
generating the positive and negative forces, that by an 
application of those propelling powers, the necessary 
fibrine and other materials may be transported through 
those avenues, to all the various parts, giving to each 
its portion in due season. There are also, channels of 
communication in all the different vegetable formations, 
from the tip of the roots to all the various twigs, 
through which the fluids are forced that form all por- 
tions of the structure, and the great power of this 



GRAVITATION. 219 

formidable element, gravitation, is set at defiance in all 
these varied processes. 

It must be evident that superior forces do operate in 
the vegetable and animal economy, for the distribution 
af all molecular particles, in such an admirable manner 
regardless of the principles of gravitation, as we observe 
in the fully developed organized forms of life which are 
scattered in such profusion around us, upon the surface 
of this physical globe. There must then exist an 
abundant supply of those superior forces, and they must 
be a part and parcel of the earth upon which these or- 
ganizations are found, and from which they are con- 
stantly drawing a supply of the necessary powers which 
they severally require, to aid in giving them their proper 
forms, and in sustaining their varied activities. Hence, 
it will be plain, that the physical globe must be the 
great reservoir, and contain the great fountain of those 
superior positive and negative forces that are the prom- 
inent producing cause of all organized forms and activ- 
ities upon its surface; and if so, then it had an abundant 
supply of those forces to produce its own form, to round 
out its own curves, and finish its own beautiful architec- 
tural outlines, also, as well as to furnish it with all its 
varied activities; its movements, including its axial and 
orbital revolutions. The scientific world must soon 
become acquainted with the great fact, that it is 
the superior forces that control and move, attract and 
govern the heavenly bodies in all their evolutions. For 
this subordinate power, gravitation can have no more to 
do with the formation of globes, and with their various 
movements and revolutions, than it has to do with the 
formation of the lofty oak of the forest, or the wild 



220 GRAVITATION. 

horse that roams over the plains, or the great army that 
is marshalled by its generals and officers upon the field 
of battle, or with any other of the activities that exist 
upon our physical globe. 

We have been taught in this work that all material 
aororre2ations and molecular organizations, had pre- 
existing spiritual forms, and those forms whether small 
or great, may contain within themselves, the spiritual 
forces that will place the material particles where they 
are required, and thus they assume by these forces, the 
dimensions and outlines of the original spiritual e xist- 
ences, whether it be a w T orld, a dewdrop, or an ani- 
malcule beneath our vision. Each spiritual form has 
inherent within itself, the forces to attract the grosser 
materials by which it manifests itself to the material 
eyes of men ; and the spiritual world while invisible, 
contained all the inherent forces that have attracted and 
placed in position all material particles of which it is 
composed, and it had these forces before gravity could 
reach it, for that element can only be found, where there 
are gross particles upon which it may act. 

Now, let it be understood, that we do not propose to 
interfere in the least degree, with the very accurate and 
extended mathematical demonstrations of Newton, Kep- 
ler, Galileo, or any other philosopher; we only propose 
to show that those mathematical calculations, arrived at 
by such arduous labor, are applicable to other and 
higher forces that do exert a reciprocal influence be- 
tween the heavenly bodies. That such a sympathetic 
cord exists between these orbs, that each one acts or 
reacts upon the others, no one can doubt ; we only pro- 
pose to show that those philosophers have mistook the 



GRAVITATION. 221 

power, and tha^ it is Electro-Magnetic influence instead 
of gravitation, that produces this interchange of action 
between the different heavenly bodies in this system, and 
in the universe at large. 

Cohesion, molecular attraction and gravitation seem 
to be different manifestations of the same force, and 
are all evidently designed to hold in place the material 
particles that superior forces have established in their 
several positions, and brought into close proximity; they 
all seem to act to this end and this alone, and beyond 
this single purpose, they evidently exercise no control. 
It would be impossible for us to say how far out into the 
regions of space, and beyond the confines of our earth, 
gravitation might extend its influence, and it is also im- 
possible for any one to prove absolutely, that it does ex- 
tend any influence beyond the limits of the atmosphere. 
For it must be conceded there is a limit somewhere, be- 
tween this and the nearest planetary body, a boundary 
beyond which no material substance would be attracted 
to the earth, and we doubt very much whether this 
power extends beyond the limits of the fluid particles 
of air by which the earth is enveloped, but we leave this 
problem to be settled by some one in the future who can 
give it their attention. 

If gravitation acts upon matter for the sole purpose 
of holding all things in their places, it follows that the 
largest body of matter would atract all things, within 
the circle of its influeuce, to itself, and that it would ex- 
ert a power over smaller bodies in proportion to its size 
and density, and that this attraction would exist, re- 
gardless of its shape or formation. As we plainly dis- 
cover, this power aided by cohesion and molecular 



222 GRAVITATION. 

attraction, would hold an aggregation of materials to- 
gether in one form as well as another, and that it would 
act upon all substances on the surface, in a general 
direct'on, at right angles with the plane of such surface, 
without regard to the location of the substance acted 
upon, or what might be the particular form of the body 
exerting the attractive influence. We understand then, 
that there is no particular geometrical center of attrac- 
tion with gravitation, any more than there is with co- 
hesion, but that the force lies in the general direction of 
the largest accumulation of particles, as is proven by 
pendulum experiments in the vicinity of mountains. 
Hence, as far as this force is concerned, it makes no 
difference what the shape or form of the body may be, 
all substances that are upon its surface, will be held 
there with all its power, whether the body may be a 
solid globe, and have but an exterior superfice, or a 
spherical shell with both convex and concave surfaces. 

All ponderable substances seem to be attracted to the 
nearest portion of the large body of matter, by an in- 
herent power that exists in this increased accumulation 
of particles, evidently by positive and negative, affini- 
ties existing between the smaller and the greater, and 
wherever you ma} be upon the surface of a spherical 
shell, you are upon the upper side, so far as gravity is 
concerned, as much as you would be upon the exterior 
of a solid globe. In this case, the antipodes of those 
who dwell upon the exterior, would be the living organ- 
isms who inhabit a locality upon the interior or concave 
surface directly opposite. We need scarcely remark 
that the old Newtonian theory which taught that the 
grand central attracting point to which all things upon 



GRAVITATION. 223 

the earth must necessarily gravitate, was confined to the 
geometrical center ot the globe, is gradually being 
superseded among very many scientific men; and the* 
more common sense view that the power exists in, and is 
confined to the gross material particles of the globe and 
its appurtenances, as presented above, has been adopted 
in its place. We most assuredly can find nothing at- 
tached to the geometrical center of our globe, that 
should make it the central moving point from which this 
force should proceed, any more than there is to any 
other point in space. 

We have learned then, from the preceding pages, that 
gravitation must necessarily be an element that perme- 
ates all ponderable bodies or material particles, and as a 
fluid element, it must be of the most sluggish character, 
nearly destitute of activities, or of any power that will 
produce motion, except in a single direction, which mo- 
tion seems to be only designed to ultimate in vis inertia, 
or entire cessation of the activities super-induced by the 
conditions of two ponderable bodies of vastly different 
dimensions. It would appear further that the element 
which seems to act upon the smaller body of matter, 
causing its fall directly to the large one or to the earth, 
must exist reciprocally in the smaller body also, so that 
we may, with similar propriety, call this force the pro- 
pulsion of gravitation, as well as the attraction of that 
element. 

The real forces, vis inertia or gravitation, evidently 
cannot be confined to the particles attached to the earth 
by cohesion, but they must exist equally in those sub- 
stances which are detached and separate, and which 
seem to be attracted with such power. They must ex- 



224 GRAVITATION. 

ist conspicuously in the ponderous material that presses 
itself with such power upon the bosom of its mother, 
as well as in the mother herself, hence, we are compelled 
to conclude that "attraction of gravitation'' is to a cer- 
tain extent a misnomer. For we perceive if this power 
was not reciprocal, but confined in its operations to the 
body of the globe, distinct from all detached particles, 
it would, of course, act extraneously upon those parti- 
cles, and independently of their conditions, and the 
question would then arise concerning the charactor or 
quality of those bodies that would first become subjected 
to an extraneous force. 

Accept the hypothesis of distinctive attraction, and 
we shall, no doubt, be compelled to conclude, that it 
would, like the wind, exercise the strongest control over 
the lighter, more buoyant fluid particles; and that these 
together with every mote that occupies a place within 
the circle of its influence, would be attracted directly to 
the earth's surface, and nothing of that character could 
rise above its immediate contact. So we discover if the 
attractive force was in the earth alone, it would exercise 
no more authority over a leaden bullet, than it would 
over a piece of cork, or any other material of the same 
dimensions, because the force exerted would not depend 
upon the conditions of the matter acted upon, as the 
power exists in the earth, and outside the material par- 
ticles which are attracted, and in that case, all sub- 
stances of the same dimensions, would have the same 
weight. 

But we discover that all substances do not have the 
same density and proportionate weight, and that the 
power of gravity is to a great extent, dependent upon 



GRAVITATION. 225 

the character and condition of the substances over 
which it exerts its control ; hence, we see clearly that 
this elemental power must also exist within those sub- 
stances, and that it is a propelling as well as an attract- 
ing force. But as such, it is so nearly allied to inertia 
or entire inactivity, that it only propels in a single rec- 
tilinear direction towards the point where rest can soon- 
est be obtained, where it lays its heavy hand on all sub- 
stances under its control, and there it would hold them 
forever, unless some extrinsic force superior to itself, 
should remove them from their position. Hence, it will 
be clear, since gravity is not a distinctive force, existing 
in the cohered body of the earth exclusively, attracting 
all things to itself, but a force found in all substances 
subject to its control, in accordance with the peculiar 
properties and conditions of their particles, that there 
may be a great variety of substances and fluid particles 
of such a character as to be entirely beyond the con- 
trol of this elemental power. This could not be the 
case if- it was an absolue attractive force, and existed 
exclusively in the great body of the earth. 

There is now, no difficulty in discerning why refined 
material particles, or the so-called imponderables, are 
not acted upon by this element, as, although they are 
composed of material atoms, they are of too sub- 
limated a nature to be seized upon by this subordinate 
power. 

The atmospheric particles, although an entire column 
is said to have a weight of fifteen pounds to the square 
inch, set at defiance this marvelous power, rise above its 
influences, and impart their weight or pressure laterally 
or upwards with the same force they do downwards, or 



226 GRAVITATION. 

towards the earth. Place the hand upon an aperture 
in the bottom of an exhausted receiver and the press- 
ure would be the same as if upon the top, proving that 
gravity has not the least control over the fluid atoms of 
this combination of nitrogen and oxygen. The atmos- 
phere not only exists independently, and operates re- 
gardless of this element, but it enables a variety of other 
material substances to do the same thing, by giving them 
a resting place within its bosom, holding them in its own 
arms in defiance of this power that is said to move 
worlds in their orbits, and guide thera in their predes- 
tined courses. Thus, we see the particles of smoke and 
flame ascending upwards with impunity, and the fleecy 
clouds lazily floating in the sunshine, or rushing to and 
fro in the gathering storm, all manifesting perfect indif- 
ference to this power, and not so much as saying, By 
your leave, Friend Gravity. It can hardly be doubted, 
that aerial navigation is a fixed fact, that must trans- 
pire, and be utilized in the future, and perhaps at no 
distant day. This certainly cannot ultimate, if gravi- 
tation exerts the all-potent influence represented by the 
old school of philosophers, for powers which they have 
placed in this element, can by no means be overcome 
by any mechanical contrivance that human ingenuity 
can invent. 

It will be observed that an extraneous force that acts 
upon ponderable bodies upon the earth's surface, always 
exerts its strongest in'.lu nces upo 1 those which have 
least density, or that are least controlled by the force of 
gravity, hence, the winds always affect and remove the 
lightest and mist refined substances first, and then oth- 
ers of greater density and weight, as its powers increase, 



GHAVITAT16N. 22? 

and gravity would quite likely do the same if it was an 
extrinsic force, existing entirely outside the substances 
acted upon. 

Our philosophers as we have remarked, have long 
supposed that lunar and solar gravity have exerted a 
wondrous influence over the fluid particles of the waters 
contained in the ocean, and this power must, of 
course, have been exerted in direct opposition to a sim- 
ilar force existing upon the earth. Hence, the gravita- 
ting forces they import from the sun and moon, must 
come into immediate antagonism with the same forces 
that properly belong to the earth, and it would appear 
that our little neighbor, the moon, has entirely the best 
of it in the conflict. There would seem, however, to be 
much doubt whether the moon has a sufficiency of this 
elemental force to send out and compete so successfully 
with those powers that exist upon our own planet, and 
if our exposition of this matter, is in the least degree 
correct, then the old established theory concerning 
tidal phenomena, must be materially modified, if not 
entirely superseded, and one more in accordance with 
the harmonies of nature built upon its ruins. 

La Place, the great French mathematician and as- 
tronomer, pronounced it one of the most difficult prob- 
lems in the whole range of celestial mechanics. So we 
perceive that the present theory concerning tides, is by 
no means well established in the minds of eminent phi- 
losophers, and doubtless, when the subject is carefully 
and critically examined by scientific minds that shall 
rise up in the future, it will be found to present a very 
clumsy and ill-shapen appearance. The moon is said 
to exert an attracting influence over the waters of the 



228 GRAVITATION. 

ocean that compares with the same influence exerted by 
the sun, as three to one. Notwithstanding the sun is 
supposed to exert a controlling attractive power over 
the whole planetary system, embracing the primaries 
and all the secondaries, which holds them in their or- 
bits and imparts continuous tangential forces to the en- 
tire machine; yet somehow our philosophers have given 
this little satellite an attractive force on our tides, three 
times as great as the central sun which, they say exer- 
cises such supreme authority in that respect over the 
whole system. 

This superior influence exerted by the moon as re- 
gards the tidal phenomena is supposed to depend upon 
its proximity to the earth, being so much nearer than 
the sun or any other planet; hence, the duty of presid- 
ing over, and to a very great extent regulating the tides, 
has been assigned to this little satellite. 

However, it must be admitted that the moon is not 
quite so near the w T aters of the ocean as the earth itself, 
and whatever pow T er of this character it has to spare, 
must travel out from home 240,000 miles, before it can 
come in contact with those bodies of water situated 
upon our globe. Now the earth, being about fifty times 
larger than the moon, and supposed to be possessed of 
gravitating power somewhat in proportion to its size, 
and proximity to the waters of the oceans, that rest 
upon its bosom, it would become absolutely necessary 
that this force coming from the moon, should neutralize 
all the corresponding power existing upon the earth, be- 
fore it could exert its influence in producing the phe- 
nomena of the tides in any such manner. If the earth 
and the moon unite together in producing phenomena 



GRAVITATION. 229 

upon either of their surfaces, they must do it by some 
power that can be mutually interchanged, and not by 
forces that would directly antagonize. And unless the 
moon is in possession of a superior article of gravity 
that is fifty times more forcible and efficient than our 
own, it would be perfectly impossible for our little neigh- 
bor to produce the ocean tides by gravitating attraction. 

The moon is said to be 39,000 times nearer the earth 
than the sun, yet the sun is 70,000,000 times greater 
than the moon, and of course, would exert a proportion- 
ately greater attractive influence, and it will be seen at 
a glance, without a resort to figures, that the difference 
in distance could not give the little satellite such a pre- 
ponderating attractive power, and enable it to exert a 
force so much greater than the sun over the waters ex- 
isting upon the earth. Again, if the moon exerts this 
predominating influence over the waters, three times 
greater than the sun, why does not the same influence 
prevail upon the land, and why does not the moon as- 
sume a proportionate authority in defiance of the sun's 
power which seems to control not only the earth's move- 
ments, but the moon's also, as well as all other planet- 
ary bodies? 

It would seem very unnatural to suppose, that there 
was a simple force of gravity in our little moon, that 
operated to such an extent upon the watery element of 
our globe, when that same force cannot be discovered as 
operating in any other department of nature. Again, 
if this force of gravity existing in the moon, really pro- 
duces such sensible influences upon our oceans, what 
would be the influence that the gravitating force going 
out from the earth, would produce upon the waters of the 
<20 



230 GRAVITATION. 

moon? For, as the earth is nearly fifty times larger 
than the moon, and the gravity of that orb raises our 
tides quite generally six to eight feet, then the gravity 
of the earth which is so many times larger, acting upon 
that planet, would raise her tides proportionately higher, 
or from three to four hundred feet, thus destroying all 
possibility of living contiguous to the water, or building 
maritime cities when that planet comes to be inhabited. 

We are forced to the conclusion, in viewing this mat- 
ter in its various aspects, that the established theory in 
relation to tidal phenomena, is a dynamical error, and 
that they are not produced by any such cause, but by 
forces that are entirely superior to gravitation, and that 
in this as well as in so many other departments of na- 
ture, the great positive and negative forces have been 
called into activity to produce these, as well as a great 
variety of results that have been ascribed to subordinate 
causes. 

Fire and gravity, as it would appear for some time 
in the past, have been common pack horses upon which 
our savans have piled all sorts of burdens, until these 
jaded animals are entirely overloaded, and although they 
are excellent in their particular sphere, they serve no 
good purpose, when called upon to carry loads they are 
entirely unable to bear, and to traverse those realms in 
which they do not properly belong. If they desired to 
run the entire machinery of a solar system, and prevent 
the numerous planetary bodies from deviating from their 
predestined orbits, they have called into requisition this 
feeble, puny force, and delegated it to perform all this 
wondrous labor, and a power that only wishes to be still, 
they have kept running hither and thither through the 



GRAVITATION. 231 

universe, accomplishing the most astonishing feats, dur- 
ing all the ages of the past, and would impose upon him 
still greater labors in the ages to come. 

Fire has also been called into requisition by the phi- 
losophers of a later period, and placed in a very conspic- 
uous position, and made to perform most astonishing 
labors in the construction of worlds ; so much so, that 
the present most popular theory concerning the forma- 
tion of the physical globe, is termed the igneous or fire 
theory. These savans have managed somehow to keep 
those raging fires burning, from the very earliest peri- 
ods of even the sun's history, without any abatement or 
cessation, and they tell us it is now raging with incon- 
ceivable fury in the bowels of our own earth and within 
all the planets, and, in accordance with their ideas, it 
seems likely to continue burning on forever. They con- 
clude by computation that this fire occupies more than 
thirty-five out of thirty-six parts of this globe, and in 
some inexplicable manner, they have been enabled to 
keep this positive element in active operation, without 
furnishing one particle of combustible material to re- 
plenish its exhausted resources. This we must admit is 
the most astounding feat that philosophy has ever per- 
formed in the whole range of celestial and terrestrial 
mechanics, if it has been successfully accomplished. 

There is, without a shadow of doubt, some sympathiz- 
ing power in this universe which acts reciprocally 
among the different planets of our solar system, which 
power performs all, and perhaps still more in regulating 
their movements, than philosophers have ascribed to 
gravitation. Great and important duties are evidently 
to be performed in this department of nature's realms; 



282 GRAVITATION. 

duties ot the most stupendous character ; and hence, 
forces must necessarily be brought to bear, that are 
commensurate with the magnitude of the labors. If 
we should take a complete survey of the extensive and 
complicated machinery of the broad universe, we should, 
perhaps, find no department that would require more 
exalted physical powers than must be applied in giving 
momentum, and in regulating the axial and orbital rev- 
olutions of the several planetary bodies. If we can 
find in our researches any one physical force that is su- 
perior to others, that, certainly, must be the one which 
would be called into requisition in the performance of 
such super-eminently arduous labors. 

If gravitation is the most exalted element that can be 
found, if it exerts a dominating influence over all other 
physical forces that have an existence, if it stands su- 
preme at the very summit of all the various powers in 
nature, then, this must be the field for its most sub- 
lime operations ; for certainly the human mind is inca- 
pable of contemplating a more important position in 
which any such power can be placed. 

But, if we should ascertain that there were other su- 
perior forces over which gravity exerts no control, and 
compared with which it sinks into insignificance, and is 
but a puny infant beside a stalwart giant, then let this 
feeble power at once and forever stand aside, giving 
place to the great positive and negative elements, Elec- 
tro-Magnetism. We have here, powers abundantly com- 
petent to enter the arena, and perform all the astound- 
ing duties required at their hands; for, if the worlds 
cannot be moved by these tremendous forces, it will be 



GRAVITATION. 233 

in vain to look for others of lesser magnitude to 
accomplish the mighty achievement. 

When the mind contemplates the great fact that all 
the stupendous globes in our planetary system, are 
moving in their respective orbits with a tremendous rap- 
idity, ranging from 250 to something over 1,800 miles 
per minute, the one being the velocityof Uranus and the 
other of Mercury, and, that Jupiter, which is over 1,400 
times larger than the earth, travels at the astonishing 
rate of 500 miles per minute, we may well conclude 
that no secondary forces can perform all this immense 
labor. We shall perceive, also, this power must be 
positive and absolute, and have its existence entirely in- 
dependent of the huge masses of matter placed under 
its control. If we find vis inertia, gravitation and mo- 
tion, to be simply effects produced by original caus es, 
and dependent upon those causes for existence, we shall, 
of course, find them entirely incapable of acting in this 
capacity, because they are secondary, and negative to 
those more exal ed powers that must be called into req- 
uisition in the performance of the most wonderful la- 
bors that can take place in the physical universe. 

It will be observed as a principle in the realms of 
nature, that all positive forces when applied to the per- 
formance of labor, are continually exhausting their own 
resources, and need constantly to be recuperated, and 
this must be true, whether we bring power to bear to 
propel a steamship, a manufactory, or a world. The 
forces applied must be unfailingly replenished, or the 
moveme.it of the machinery will be suspended, and we 
may rest assured, if there was no method of continually 
generating the forces requisite to move the worlds in 



234 GRAVITATION. 

their orbits, they would cease their motions as readily 
as the steamboat or the mill. 

Now we trust the reader will discover that each one 
of these globes must be a locomotive machine, and gen- 
erate its own forces within itself, independently of all 
the others, and that these forces when so generated, are 
disposed in a manner that will guide and direct them all 
in their predestined orbits. Most certainly, there can 
be no more propriety in supposing extrinsic force is 
brought to bear in propelling worlds in their orbits, than 
there is in driving the locomotive across the plains, or 
the majestic steamer across the ocean. For we must 
admit that the power and wisdom that could project, 
and produce worlds and set them in motion, must have 
been competent to have made an application of the re- 
quired forces necessary for their propulsion, as easily as 
the builder of the steamship or locomotive; and further, 
we discover that these forces, being exhaustive of their 
own energies, must be generated in a somewhat analo- 
gous manner. 

We trust the reader will, by a perusal of the preced- 
ing pages, be comfirmed in some important principles 
that seem to occupy a conspicuous place in the natural 
realms, and which have apparently been overlooked 
by very many men of scientific attainments. 

First. All forces that are brought to bear in the per- 
formance of their labors in the various departments of 
nature, must have been called into requisition, and ap- 
plied by a power and wisdom entirely sufficient to con- 
trol and regulate the forces so applied. 

Secondly. All forces are either positive or negative, 
male or female, and they must act in conjunction before 



GRAVITATION. 235 

they can produce important results, or accomplish the 
purpose designed, as vapor must be combined with ca- 
loric in order to become a power. 

Thirdly. All positive, active forces are exhaustive of 
their own resources when in activity, hence, they must 
be constantly generated and replenished, or their effects 
will cease to be produced. 

Fourthly. All negative elements are perfectly inact- 
ive, and only manifest inertness, unless combined with 
the positive, so that the fluid particles of electricity, 
per se y are as quiet and harmless as so many particles 
of oxygen or Indian meal. 

Fifthly. The so-called physical forces are but ethere- 
alized fluid particles, eliminated from the grosser mate- 
rial, and their power over gross matter, depends upon 
their degree of fineness or etherealization. 

Sixthly. There is no line of demarcation that can be 
found that divides so-called spiritual essences from 
gross material, so that we cannot say with propriety, 
this is matter exclusive of spirit, or that is spirit exclu- 
sive of matter. 

Seventhly. Each one of the natural forces must act 
in their own particular department, and they must be 
commensurate with the magnitude of the duties they 
are called upon to perform ; hence, the most stupendous 
labors must require the most exalted powers. 

It will now be discovered in view of these several 
conclusions that the different planets must be in posses- 
sion, independently of the various forces that are requi- 
site in the performance of their several evolutions, and 
that the forces are so disposed as to be constantly re- 
plenished by suitable apparatus, quite analogous to the 



236 THE SUN. 

forces in the animal economy, by which they are en- 
abled to perform their allotted functions. 

It will also be plain that where we can find forces 
upon a planet entirely sufficient to give it the power of 
locomotion, there will be no trouble in finding those that 
may produce and regulate the tides, for certainly the 
periodical ebb and flow of the tides are trifling matters 
compared with the revolutions of mighty worlds in their 
orbits, with a velocity that almost bewilders the human 
mind in its contemplation. We will refer to these sub- 
jects again, in another connection. 



CHAP. VIII. 

THE SUN AND ITS INFLUENCES. 

The sun's influences appear to be so intimately con- 
nected with much that appertains to our earth, and is 
withal so conspicuous an object in our planetary system, 
that it seems almost a duty, to pay our humble respects 
to this majestic orb of day in something more than a 
passing notice. By so doing, we may possibly make 
some discoveries, and obtain a clearer view of the na- 
ture of the powers and influences, we are daily receiv- 
ing from his bounteous store house. There seems to be 
a direct and intimate relationship existing between this 
great ruling monarch of light, and very much of the 
varied phenomena that are found upon the surface of 



THE SUN. 237 

the world we inhabit. It has been thought by many 
learned men, that the sun was not only the bountiful 
dispenser of all the light and heat we enjoy upon the 
earth, but that it also furnishes the motive power by 
which we are propelled in our great annual revolu- 
tions, and it is no marvel that this conspicuous member 
which seems to occupy so important a position in the 
planetary family that constitutes our solar system, 
should have received such marked attention from the 
learned and the unlearned of the different ages of the 
world. 

When we contemplate the ineffable glory and majesty 
of this King of day, as he seems to rise upon us from 
his gilded couch in the eastern horizon, and, as it were, 
sitting in his resplendent chariot of fire, pursues his con- 
tinuous journeys through the heavens, dispensing light 
and life, and innumerable blessings to all who behold 
his brightness, we can but wonder with increasing aston- 
ishment; and we must reverence and adore those pow- 
ers that have been competent to produce such incom- 
prehensible results. 

We can hardly look upon it as sacrilege or idolatry, 
in the Aztec or Persian, who bowed down in solemn rev- 
erence, and offered their most fervent devotions to this 
luminary as their highest conception of a God. Very 
many of our predecessors have looked upon his smiling 
countenance, and endeavored to gain admittance to his 
audience chamber, and to learn from himself his own 
story concerning the eternal law? by which he is gov- 
erned, and the principles and attributes that appertain 
to his organization. They wish also to learn the means 
by which he extends this wide spread profusion of bless- 



238 THE SUtf. 

ings, over such a vast domain, giving to each of his de^ 
pendents a portion in due season, sufficient to supply 
their necessities, and how and where he can store away 
such a wondrous treasure of genial magnetic light, and 
calorific influences that reach out to inconceivable dis- 
tances, distributing life and animation and vigor 
throughout the numerous revolving worlds. 

If others have prosecuted their inquiries to such an 
extent, established theories, arrived at conclusions, and 
published their opinions to the world, why may not we 
institute some inquiries also ; for we are persuaded the 
harvest of truth has not all been gleaned, concerning 
that monarch of our solar system, with whom we have 
been so familiar during our entire lives. 

It is more than probable that our philosophers and 
scientific men are somewhat at fault concerning this 
whole subject of solar influences, although so many 
learned essays have been written explanatory of their 
phenomena; and so much time and attention have been 
expended by very many eminent persons in its consid- 
eration. We are told that the sun is the source of light 
and heat, and that somehow from this great fountain, 
those necessary elements come to our earth; and some 
of the learned men of a rather modern age, have adopted 
the so-called corpuscular or emanating theory, which 
teaches that light consists of extremely minute particles 
of a fluid essence, that are thrown off from all luminous 
bodies, and which travel the whole distance between 
such a body and the eye in a very brief space of time. 
That these particles upon their arrival, may strike or 
impinge upon the retina of that organ, and produce the 
sensation of light, just as particles thrown from an 



THE SUN. 239 

odoriferous substance come in contact with the organs 
of smell. This was the theory, adopted by Newton and 
most British philosophers. But others have conceived 
a different idea, and hold the so-called undulating the- 
ory, and assume that all of space is filled with an ex- 
ceedingly subtile imponderable medium, known as ether. 
So, that a luminous body, millions of miles distant, 
somehow produces activity in this great mass of ether, 
causing minute waves or undulations, that pass out into 
the realms of space, like the surface of a pond rippled 
by throwing in a stone. These waves, they say, are 
transmitted with inconceivable rapidity till they reach 
the eye, strike the sensitive membrane or retina, and 
produce the phenomenon of vision. 
• This theory is said to explain many of the phenom- 
ena of optics, and is now quite generally received. 
However, we modestly express an opinion that both 
these theories are liable to objections, and that in the 
ages of the future they must be superseded by more 
harmonious views, that will have a broader scope, and 
admit of being extended, out into the distant realms of 
the universe, or at least into the exterior portions of 
our own solar system. It is much to be feared that, 
when we undertake to supply the inhabitants of Uranus 
or Neptune with light and warmth, upon the principles 
adopted by either of the theories presented, we shall 
meet with an entire failure, for, it cannot be presumed 
that either the solar particles, or the undulations of 
ether can reach those distant planets with sufficient 
force to produce any beneficial results. As it is a well 
understood fact, that one of the properties of light, is 



240 THE SUN. 

to dimmish its intensity in proportion to the square of 
the distance from the luminous body. 

As Uranus is nineteen times farther from the sun 
than the earth, and the square of nineteen being 
three hundred and sixty-one, that planet can only re- 
ceive about 1-360 part of the solar influence enjoyed by 
the inhabitants of the earth, and Neptune whose orbit 
is 3,000,000,000 miles distant from the sun, can only 
obtain 1-1,000 part of the light and heat from the great 
fountain in the center, that is vouchsafed to our own 
planet. Thus, we discover, that although, these theories 
might answer very well if we had one world only, but 
like some of the doctrines of the theologians, for in- 
stance, the vicarious atonement, they become extremely 
frivolous and are entirely inadequate, even, if we barely 
take into consideration the existence of our own solar 
system. They, by no means, meet the wants, neither can 
they be applied to the circumstances of the exterior 
planets that are revolving around our great central lu- 
minary in their wide extended orbits. Philosophers 
and theologians will, doubtless, at some time, learn to 
take a more enlarged view of the natural realms, and 
adopt theories that will prove to be of more universal 
application. 

Our little world, though it may seem large and stu- 
pendous to us, is but a very diminutive portion of the 
great macrocosm, and any universal law that controls 
either matter or spirit upon this comparatively inconsid- 
erable globe, must be applicable to, and in harmony 
with all laws and principles existing in, and governing 
every other globe in all portions of the universal do- 
main, where suns and planets, or visual orbs to behold 



THE SUN. 241 

them, can possibly have an existence. Therefore, it is 
useless, and worse than idle, to devote our time and la- 
bor in the elaboration of theories which will not harmo- 
nize with principles that are of universal application^ 
and that are adequate to extend out, and contemplate 
the existence, not only of worlds, but of systems of 
worlds unnumbered, all moving in their ample rounds, 
and composing one harmonious whole. 

One of the objections to the first named theory, is, 
that, the process of continuously throwing off fluid 
particles, would certainly prove exhaustive of the re- 
sources of the great fountain of light, for particles are 
something, and no matter how large the reservoir, this 
continuous extracting something from its contents, and 
sending it away not to return, would finally drain the 
fountain to the very bottom ; and the great luminary 
would disappear, having distributed itself among the 
different planets and satellites. And they, after receiv- 
ing all these elements, would be able to furnish from 
this source, their own light and heat independently. 
The sun is said to be more than five hundred times as 
large as all the planets of our solar system, we shall 
then readily perceive that he need throw off and send 
to those planets but a very small par.t of his fluid 
particles of light, before they would all be supplied 
with a sufficiency of those elements, to enable them to 
set up for themselves, and in this respect to do business 
upon their own account, for, most certainly, such par- 
ticles, sent out by a luminous body, could not be lost, 
but must remain somewhere in the broad realms forever. 
So we are compelled to conclude that these fluid parti- 
21 



242 THE SUN. 

cles cannot be arriving in such extensive quantifies from 
that source. 

Again, if those particles are coming to us in that 
manner, as emanations from the central sun, they would 
necessarily proceed in all directions from that luminous 
body, and consequently fill the immensity of space, 
just as far as the influence of that luminary extends. 
Hence, to the farthest limits of these fluid particles, or 
emanations, light would necessarily exist, and there 
would be no darkness, even in the immediate shadows 
of the several planets and their satellites ; as we per- 
ceive in this case, all would be light in the regions of 
space wherever the emanations of light could penetrate. 
But, on the contrary, we find all is coldness and dark- 
ness beyond the earth's atmosphere, and it is not known 
that the sun exerts any influence whatever in this re- 
spect, beyond the atmospheric envelopes of the several 
planetary bodies. 

It seems to be well understood, that all the light and 
heat existing in the great universe is found contiguous 
to the heavenly bodies, and within the boundaries of 
the atmospheric particles that surround them. So we 
perceive, that the light we obtain, depends entirely upon 
conditions attached to our own globe, and unless these 
conditions are favorable, a thousand luminaries would 
be of no avail. We perceive clearly, if all of the re- 
gions of space around our globe, except the funnel 
Bhaped shadow of the earth, were enjoying the full 
blaze of daylight, then there could be no such thing as 
darkness within the limits of the shadow, and no such 
thing as night could prevail at any time. For the over- 
whelming amount of light existing upon all sides of th.e 



THE SUN. 243 

umbra or conical shadow, would penetrate its borders 
at every point, and entirely overcome any considerable 
influence arising from the absence of the illuminating 
body. Again, we should at any time be able to look 
out laterally from the shadow, into the broad light en- 
joyed beyond. So take what view of this matter we 
please, we shall discover that light as well as heat, the 
two elements that are so intimately connected, only 
exist in appreciable quantities within the limits of the 
atmosphere of our planet, and any other of those bodies 
where their benefits are enjoyed. The supply can only 
extend to those portions of the great universe, where 
such elements are required. As there would be no 
more necessity and propriety in manufacturing light 
sufficient to fill the broad realms of all space, than there 
would be for the citizens of any single town to procure 
a supply, sufficient to light an entire state or extended 
district of country. Men are usually smart enough to 
understand that it would be time and means thrown 
away, to manufacture a thousand times more light than 
would be required for their own use; and, we must con- 
clude that all the light that ever did exist in any portion 
of the universe, has by some process been manufactured. 
We need not suppose, therefore, that those powers who 
are competent to manage the affairs of nature's great 
laboratory, and produce the light of which we enjoy 
such a bountiful supply, are any more reckless and im- 
provident, or less shrewd than men dwelling upon the 
earth, and it would be impossible for any intelligent 
mind to discover the utility or necessity for lighting up 
the boundless regions of space. In relation to many 
features of the undulating theory which is generally re- 



244 THE SUN. 

ceived by the philosophers of the present period, we are 
compelled to notice some serious difficulties, and, per- 
haps, fatal objections; and we feel almost to regret that 
we are obliged to deviate so far from the beaten path 
which has been traveled by men of science. It certainly 
would be far easier to adopt their ideas and copy their 
opinions, than to establish theories of our own, and send 
them out before the world, to run the gauntlet of pub- 
lic investigation, if they should even be deemed worthy 
of notice. 

But we are persuaded that new ideas must be pre- 
sented, and new theories must arise, in relation to most 
of the subjects that have received the attention of men, 
and those that have the temerity to present them, must 
probably become the targets, against which the shafts 
of conservatism will be hurled, and, perhaps, we hav- 
ing no well-earned reputation to lose, can stand up 
against them as well as any of our fellows. 

We may notice that this vibratory theory assumes 
the fact, that there exists out in the realms of space, 
everywhere, minute particles of fluid ether, that like 
water, are sufficiently compact to be influenced by 
waves of motion, and they assume also, that all lumin- 
ous bodies are in constant agitation, or vibratory activ- 
ity, and these bodies communicate inconceivably 
rapid waves of motion to this universal mass of fluid 
particles they call space ether, and those waves continue 
constantly to arrive within our atmosphere, and by the 
excessive rapidity of their motions, penetrate the eye, 
and impinge upon the retina, thus producing the sensa- 
tion of light. 

We venture to remark in relation to this space ether, 



THE SUN. 245 

or mass of fluid atoms, sufficiently dense to admit of con- 
tinuous uninterrupted waves of motion throughout the 
regions of space, that its existence is a bare assumption 
unsupported by any substantial evidence. There may 
be vibratory undulations of light within the limits of 
our atmosphere, and doubtless, philosophers have arrived 
at very correct conclusions, by numerous delicate ex- 
periments and observations, concerning many of their 
phenomena; but, that there is a fluid ether existing in 
all the realms of space, sufficiently dense to serve as a 
medium for the continuance of these undulations, from 
the great central luminary to the remote portions of our 
solar system, is a mere hypothesis, and still remains to 
be proven. Of course, it cannot be fully established 
that light comes to us in any such manner, unless the 
medium upon which it is said to be transmitted, is known 
to exist. Then both these positions become mere vis- 
ionary speculations, and we trust we shall find both, 
upon careful examination, to be as false in fact as they 
are unsound in philosophy. 

Now suppose there may be space ether, existing suf- 
ficiently dense to admit of uninterrupted waves of mo- 
tion, of what could it be composed? most assuredly, of 
material particles; and they must be in close proximity 
in order to carry the vibrations, and we should discover 
that in order to have the vibration come directly from 
the luminous body, the great mass of fluid material 
atoms must lie in repose, or in an undisturbed condition. 
For, were we to cast a stone into a great lake, and 
should the ripples pass out from that center of activity, 
they would be liable to be overcome or absorbed in their 
passage, by any greater disturbance in the waters, as, 



246 THE SUN. 

a steamboat might intercept these retreating waves, and 
entirely arrest their progress, by absorbing all their un- 
dulations into the more violent agitations that would 
necessarily be caused by its revolving wheels. We 
think by examining the matter carefully, we shall find 
that similar disturbances must exist in this vast, uni- 
versal body of space ether, which our philosophers have 
imagined, was placed between us and the sun, as well as 
throughout all space. We see very clearly, that in con- 
sequence of the several motions of the heavenly bodies, 
disturbances would naturally arise, which must effect- 
ually destroy all continuous vibratory motion. 

For instance, our earth has an axial motion of over 
one thousand miles per hour, and she carries with her a 
certain portion of this space ether, while the remaining 
contiguous portions are stationary; and wherever this 
moving orb of material particles comes in contact with 
the concave mass that is stationary, there must be a ter- 
rible grinding and clashing; not only that, but a disturb- 
ing agitation that would entirely cut off and absorb any 
wave motions coming from the great luminous body in 
the center. Thus we see, in this case, there must be 
an immense globe of this space ether, containing the 
earth with its atmosphere in the center, presenting an 
exterior convex surface, which globe is rolling upon its 
axis in the midst of this great mass of ether, in direct 
contact with a concave surface. 

The reader will now discover, that at the point of 
contiguity, where these two surfaces must necessarily 
collide, a most violent agitation would naturally result, 
entirely sufficient to prevent any continuity of vibratory 
motion, arriving from a distant planet. Again, there 



THE SUN. 247 

is another still more rapid motion of the earth, said to 
be 68,000 miles per hour in its orbit, that carries the 
moon with it, and must embrace all of this ether within, 
and perhaps for a great distance beyond the moon's 
orbit. This would give us a globe, of at least 500,000 
miles in diameter, rushing through the entire mass of 
fluid space ether, with such tremendous velocity, tearing 
asunder those particles, and rendering uninterrupted 
vibratory movements utterly impossible, at the point of 
intersec:ion between the moving and stationary fluid. 

"When we contemplate the fact, that science and phi- 
losophy have set in motion such a prodigious ball of 
space ether, of a density and compactness sufficient to 
communicate waves of motion from the sun to the earth, 
and that this immense globe is rushing through an un- 
limited field of similar fluid particles of the same dens- 
ity, with such a tremendous velocity, the mind is filled 
with astonishment. And, when we take into consider- 
ation the terrible agitation that must ensue throughout 
that immense region, w^here the convex surface of this 
moving body comes in contiguity with the concave sur- 
face of the stationary mass, we are still more astounded. 
But when we learn that scientific men have attempted 
to bridge this awful chasm of agitated and disturbed 
fluid particles, and convey the most delicate waves of 
motion or vibration from the stationary to the moving 
mass, we can but wonder at their stupidity. 

Again, the sun has an axial motion which is said to 
be over 4,500 miles per hour, and it must carry with it 
a certain portion of this space ether, and hence, there 
must be another chasm of disturbed fluid element to 
bridge over, lying between that moving mass and the 



248 THE SUN. 

great stationary body. It is a very grave question 
whether nature could stand anv such terrible agitations 
as would necessarily be produced by the incessant gri rid- 
ings and clashings of such vast bodies of fluid ether, 
moving with a rapidity so prodigious, and making their 
way through the midst of stationary fluid atoms, of 
a density sufficient to convey undulating vibrations, for 
so many millions of miles. However, it must certainly 
appear conclusive to the most careless observer, that no 
such undulations can pass any of the lines of intersec- 
tion, or chasms that occur between the moving and sta- 
tionary particles, and as a sequence, light can by no 
means, be communicated from the sun to our earth, or 
any other planet in accordance with this absurd hypoth- 
esis. 

It will be distinctly understood that we have no quar- 
rel with the undulatory theory, if confined within the 
limits of our atmosphere. Our objections lie against 
the mode of communicating the vibrations from the sun 
to the limits of the atmosphere. Against the filling up 
the vast hiatus, with an imaginary space ether as a me- 
dium upon which to convey an imaginary motion or 
vibration, that by no means comes to us all that long 
distance. There is little difficulty for those who devote 
their time and attention to the science of optics, to frame 
an hypothesis which will afford a mechanical explana- 
tion of the various phenomena of light, as it exists upon 
the earth, because more hypotheses than one have been 
imagined by which most of the phenomena can be ex- 
plained. Still, notwithstanding all the splendid discov- 
eries that have been made, the true theory of light as 
regards its connection with the sun, and its communica- 



THE SUN. 249 

tion to the planetary -world, no doubt, remains a prob- 
lem yet to be solved by scientific minds upon the earth. 

It is quite- evident, that if we adopt a theory, it must 
be one sufficiently broad in its scope to reach out and 
embrace all the planetary bodies in the system, for in 
their different conditions, one might require to be fur- 
nished with the needed light in a very different manner 
from the others. If the planets were all equi-distant 
from the sun, and all of the same age, and in the same 
condition of development, then one mode of manufac- 
ture and distribution of light and heat, would be all 
that could possibly be required. But the various plan- 
ets are scattered throughout an immense region of 
space, from Mercury whose orbit is only about 37,000,- 
000 to the far distant Neptune who maintains the re- 
spectful distance of 3,000,000,000 miles from the great 
central or apparent source of all light. 

We perceive all these different planets must be of va- 
rious ages and conditions of development, and it follows 
that there must be various modes of manufacture and 
distribution of their needed light, to correspond with 
their very different conditions and distances from the 
sun. We also very clearly see, that the same plan of 
distribution which would give the earth just the required 
amount of light and heat, would furnish Mafs too little, 
and Venus entirely too much; and it would scorch poor 
Mercury to a cinder, while it would leave the outer plan- 
ets in the cold embrace oi eternal frost, and their icy 
domains would contain little but sleep and death. 
Hence, the requisite amount must depend to a very 
great extent upon the condition of the different planets 
themselves. 



250 THE SUN. 

We think the reader will here recognize the great 
fact, that all worlds must be constructed in perfect ac- 
cordance with universal laws and principles, and that 
each one possesses inherent within itself, all powers, and 
all properties of every other planet, and the grand dif- 
ference in that respect, is that one is older and more 
advanced and developed than the other. How came 
our sun in possession of such a vast amount of light 
and heat giving influences, and the moon so destitute 
of both, while our earth in this respect is evidently in a 
condition between the two ? Why should the supreme 
architect and governor of this solar system permit the 
exterior planets to travel so far beyond the reach of 
the sun's warming and lighting influence, unless means 
were provided to give them what they required, to a 
very great extent independent of him, and by influences 
inherent in themselves? 

When we fall back upon the development theory, all 
these difficulties receive a harmonious explanation; and 
what other theory but that of progressive development, 
can be introduced into the constitution of worlds and 
systems of worlds, if that principle exists in all organ- 
ized living forms that are found upon their surface, and 
is inherited directly from the physical globe upon which 
they have their being? There is no species of the veg- 
etable or animal kingdom that is introduced into the 
world in a state of maturity, but all forms come into 
existence in an extremely infantile condition, and very 
gradually attain growth and the development of their 
inherent powers. It is safe to conclude that these forms 
of life could not possess such physical attributes, unless 
they receive them from the earth they inhabit, as that 



THE SUN. 251 

is the great mother from whence they draw physically 
all that exists within them, and the earth they inhabit 
could not impart those principles of growth and devel- 
opment to her children, unless she first had them to 
spare. 

Hence, we find that all globes must have commenced 
their career in a feeble, infantile condition, as regards 
light and heat, very gradually developing out of that 
condition to a more advanced state, and hence it is, that 
all globes or planets in all their several situations are 
receiving just the amount they need, and no more than 
will correspond with their several circumstances. Thus, 
we shall very evidently find that the inherent elements 
upon the planet Mercury are in a condition to receive 
just the amount of solar influence required by that body 
and so of all the others wherever they may happen to 
be located. It cannot be supposed that all things are 
burning up that are found upon the surface of Mercury, 
and yet she is in a position to receive seven times the 
amount of solar influence that comes to the earth. 

Then we must conclude that the development of her 
inherent powers are such as to modify their solar influ- 
ences, and consequently afford her the needed amount 
in her present condition, and so of the moon which re- 
volves around the earth. For certainly, if the moon is 
in the same condition of the earth, she ought to receive 
the same amount of solar influence, and instead of pre- 
senting the pale, cold, electric appearance upon its face, 
it would exhibit that more ruddy glow, and those 
warmer tints that seem attached to more advanced heav- 
enly bodies. We must consider it idle and unphilo- 
sophical to suppose, that new influences are arriving 



252 THE SUN. 

upon the earth from the great central orb, soon after 
he presents his shining face upon each and every morn- 
ing, either in the shape of emanating fluid particles, or 
undulating waves of motion; for we can be assured that 
all of solar influences which we enjoy, have been within 
the boundaries of our atmosphere, from the earliest 
period of this mundane existence. This positive power 
has spread itself over one-half the surface of our globe 
in one broad mantle, and it has never been withdrawn 
for a single moment, since the morning stars sang to- 
gether at its birth, and the sons of God shouted forth 
their welcome exultations over a new born world. 

The magnetic positive life giving powers of the great 
luminary, have been permeating the more negative elec- 
tric elements upon the surface of our earth, and the 
rest of this planetary family, impregnating the fluid 
particles existing within their several atmospheres with 
energy and activity, in accordance with their developed 
capabilities of receiving and appropriating these influ- 
ences. The great mantle of positive power that envel- 
opes the one-half of the globe, must remain stationary, 
and only changes its position relatively to the earth, 
which rolling upon its axis once in twenty-four hours, 
brings nearly every portion of its superfice directly un- 
der the influence of this positive mantle; for about one- 
half the time, while the other half is turned away, 
and is consequently in a more negative, inactive condition. 
All worlds that have axial revolutions, and that are 
under, and receiving solar influences, must experience 
an equal amount of the positive and negative forces 
during each revolution. 

Thus we have alternations of day and night, or light 



THE SUN. 253 

and darkness, or a positive and negative condition of 
the elements by which the surface of our globe is 
enveloped, and the positive or active condition of the 
superficial or more refined elements which are found 
contiguous to it, are evidently engendered by an Electro- 
Magnetic battery, the positive pole of which, is formed 
by the exceedingly magnetic activities existing upon 
the sun's surface and the negative in the more electrical 
inactive elements upon the earth. 

This highly magnetic and positively spiritualized 
luminous body which exists in the center of our system, 
has evidently come up to this largely developed condi- 
tion, from the lowest negative electrical state, passing 
through all the intermediate changes like all other suns 
in the vast firmament, in order that they may take their 
respective places in the center of their own systems, 
and dispense to their dependents, the bounteous gifts 
which all have received in their turn. 

We have already noticed that the material of which 
worlds are composed, in its primeval condition, must nec- 
essarily be of the most inactive character; and hence, 
that all worlds in their early condition, are preponder- 
atingly negative, and more positive extraneous influ- 
ences, are necessarily brought to bear upon them, to 
assist in their growth and development, through the in- 
termediate stages from this negative or electric state up 
to a magnetic positive condition. Our own world has 
certainly left upon her record, undoubted evidences of 
having passed through these various stages. It is a well 
known fact to every geologist, that untold thousands 
of ages must have passed away upon our earth, before 
the elements surrounding it, were capable of sustaining 
9,9, 



254 THE SUN. 

any form of organized human beings, and the fossilized 
remains of the early paleozoic stratifications, show that 
the forms of life existing in those remote periods, were 
of the lowest order, possessing little activity, and in a 
comparatively negative condition. 

Living organisms were of the most inactive and slug- 
gish character, and confined to the very lowest species. 
A few varieties of the Radiata, including the star-fishes 
coral polyps, sponges, and those creatures known as zoo- 
phytes, or half plant and half animal, are all that can 
be found belonging to those early periods. The animal 
and vegetable forms of higher, and still higher charac- 
ter, have come into existence gradually as the surround- 
ing elements have developed, until we come up to the 
more active and positive of the animal race, and finally 
to man. We discover that the development o*f the sur- 
rounding elements, in which these organized forms of 
life existed, must have preceded the organizations, for 
the more positive and active organization could not well 
exist in the negative elements; neither do the animal 
organisms that flourished, when all the elements were 
developed, find a genial dwelling place upon the sur- 
face of the earth at the present time, when all the ele- 
ments are more evolved, and hence, their extinction. 

So, the great fact becomes apparent, that man the 
highest organized form of life, could not exist until the 
surrounding elements were so elaborated and improved 
as to be commensurate with his demands, and further 
that man cannot advance and unfold to any considerable 
extent, unless all of nature by which he is surrounded, 
advances and unfolds also. Thus it becomes evident, 
thore must be a very different state of things upon our 



THE sun. 2bb 

earth, and in the etherealized fluid particles by which 
it is surrounded, than could have existed in the earlier 
ages of animal life; and also before those organizations 
first made their appearance, and hence, the apparent 
solar influences must operate in a different manner. All 
things have changed from a comparatively inactive, 
negative, to a more relatively active, positive state, and 
if we should inquire, whether this change had taken 
place with the sun or upon the earth, we should find 
that the improvement was principally upon our planet. 

We behold an unfolding of those inherent powers 
that we possess, and always have possessed in a latent 
condition, that will ultimately render us less dependent 
upon the great orb of day, because we are developing 
the same powers that exist in the sun in all their mag- 
nificence and glory. And if it is conceded that we have 
unfolded in any sense of the word, that we have trav- 
eled a portion of the journey from the electric condition 
of the new formed moon, to the resplendent magnetic 
glory of the full-grown sun, what shall hinder our ac- 
complishing the entire distance, and becoming like the 
sun entirely dependent upon our own resources for light 
and heat? 

We shall doubtless be compelled to admit, when it is 
conceded that we are in the enjoyment of a larger 
amount of positive, active element, than we once had, 
that we furnish this excess by the unfoldment of our 
own latent powers, and if so, what shall hinder our en- 
tire independence, when we are completely unfolded or 
developed. 

If we institute an inquiry concerning the peculiar 
elements that exist upon the earth, from which light 



256 THE SUN. 

and heat may be manufactured, we shall be apt to find 
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, also fire, 
caloric, and magnetism "with electricity and aura; all 
these several elements which are acting in their various 
capacities, seem to be in abundant supply. Somehow 
men have learned to commingle, and make use of some 
of these elements, in the production of light and warmth 
in the absence of solar influences, they manage to light 
and warm their apartments, or the largest halls and the 
deepest mines, in the depths of winter as well as in the 
darkest night, In view of these facts there can be no 
doubt but the wisdom and power that contrived the ma- 
chinery of the solar system, can ultimately furnish the 
means for lighting and warming each one of these plan- 
ets independently, upon the very same principle that 
those means and appliances have been furnished to the 
great central orb. 

We modestly express the opinion, that, if we should 
travel out to the sun, and take a survey of his vast do- 
main, from the boundaries of his atmosphere down to 
the depths of his darkness, we should find no elements 
of a higher character than those we havo upon our 
earth. If we have the very same elements, as are con- 
tained upon the sun, what should prevent, when their 
latent powers are sufficiently unfolded, and we have 
gathered the requisite quantity, using them for the same 
high purpose, and what shall prevent using them now 
as far as they answer the purposes. 

Now, we think the reader will discover the folly of 
importing fluid particles of light, or wavy undulations, 
all the long distance from the sun, in order to dispel 
the darkness of the preceding night, for all that can 



THE SUN. 257 

possibly be received from the sun, has been with us from 
the earth's earliest history, and that is this subtle, mag- 
netic, positive influence that wakes into activity the 
inherent powers belonging to us, that are of the same 
character precisely, as those with which the sun has been 
far more bountifully supplied by the interminable proc- 
esses of elaboration through which that central orb has 
passed, during its lengthened existence. 

To make the matter more clear, we may again state 
that electricity is but expressive of coldness, inactivity, 
and darkness, that matter, to remain in an unchanged 
condition, must necessarily be entirely negative, which 
means in that condition, we call death, and that magnet- 
ism is a synonim of life, heat, and activity. Hence, 
when the negative element becomes permeated to any 
extent with the positive, it is immediately subject to 
change, and becomes progressive; for, the positive and 
negative being male and female, reproduce themselves 
or their likeness, and whenever or wherever the two ele- 
ments come in contact, from that moment change and 
progress^commences. There can be nothing unchange- 
able in this universe, except it be material in a purely 
negative condition, absolutely divested of any positive 
influence, and that would be electricity, entirely distinct 
from magnetism. 

So, if worlds in an infantile condition are almost 
purely electric and negative, then there can be very" 
little magnetic or positive element within them, with 
which the great fountain head of these powers, can 
aflfinitize, in order to produce those activities and fric- 
tionizing processes that result in the light and heat ex 
perienced upon the surface of the different planets. 



258 THE SUN. 

Hence, we perceive that Mercury being younger and 
less developed, is, of course more electrical and has 
more of cold, darkness and inactivity, and less positive, 
active elements to assimilate with those contained in the 
sun; but she has some advantage in point of distance, 
and that fact assists in modifying her light and heat to 
suit her condition, and so of all the planets that are 
dependent upon solar influence, and experience those 
alternations of light and darkness. 

It will be discovered that both light and warmth being 
active, positive conditions, are produced by vibrations, 
or frictionizing activities that continually exist in the 
fluid essences found upon one-half the earth's surface, 
caused by coming more immediately under the influence 
of nature's great Voltaic battery. In order to make 
this battery effectual in producing the required results, 
there must be an element existing upon the planet that 
will assimilate to those where the battery is erected. It 
is well known, that in telegraphing successfully, the ele- 
ments at the point of reception must be undisturbed, 
and in quite a similar condition to those where the bat- 
tery is erected, which seems to cause the vibration of 
the electric fluid that transmits the message, as any 
change or disturbance in the elements entirely prevents 
the harmonious activities of the instruments, and of 
course, failure ensues. 

We trust then, the reader will learn that the quantity 
and quality of light, as well as heat depends almost ex- 
clusively upon the conditions of the several planets, and 
the various changes are evidently produced by changes 
upon them, instead of the sun which acts as the great 
central Electro-Magnetic battery. Darkness and cold 



THE SUN. 259 

being inactive and negative, or an absence of those vio- 
lent frictionizing activities that produce the more posi- 
tive conditions of light and heat, of course, occupy 
that half of the globe directly opposite the great mag- 
netic mantle, and these two different conditions are con- 
tinually changing places from east to west, as the earth 
rolls upon its axis in the other direction. 

The fluid elements within the limits of the atmosphere 
and contiguous to our globe, upon that side which looks 
toward the sun, and which are enveloped within the 
great positive covering of light, being evidently excited 
to a vibratory frictionizing activity productive of illu- 
mination and caloric, as a matter of course, assimilate 
more nearly to the character of the great positive globe 
in the center. While the same elements upon the other 
side that look out upon the vast, cold, dark, negative 
space where inactivity reigns, become torpid or inactive, 
ceasing to a very great extent, their rapid, frictionizing 
movements. They become cold and dark, assimilating 
to the negative conditions that exist in the unlimited 
regions of space, outside the influences of any planetary 
bodies. 

The reader will doubtless discover that the only rea- 
son why darkness occurs upon that side of our earth 
which is opposite the sun, is simply because the positive, 
active life and heat dispensing elements of magnetism, 
aura, and empyria, or primal colors, are not sufficiently 
unfolded and elaborated, to produce the necessary ac- 
tivities independently ; and that in our partially devel- 
oped condition we still require the energizing influences 
of the great positive power contained in the sun. 

But there cannot be a doubt that when a billion or 



260 THE SUN. 

more years have passed away, and our orbit is extended 
beyond the one in which Jupiter now travels, and the 
annual revolution of the earth shall equal twelve of our 
years instead of one, the feeble light producing ele- 
ments upon this globe shall be developed to that condi- 
tion, in which they will possess the power to furnish the 
necessary illumination and caloric upon every side, and 
in all latitudes. We shall become comparatively inde- 
pendent of the central luminous orb, and enjoy a beau- 
tiful mellow light adapted to a more advanced condi- 
tion, which shall be continual, and diffuse itself upon all 
portions of our globe, in such an equable manner that 
the torrid heats of the tropical, and the terrible frosts 
of the polar regions shall be unknown to the inhabi- 
tants. When all the great battles between the antago- 
nistic elements of heat and cold, of light and darknes, 
shall have been fought to the end, and those mighty 
contests shall result in an agreeable diffusion of those 
various elements in a manner perfectly adapted to the 
wants of a harmonious and highly developed race of in- 
telligent beings. 

It seems to be conceded upon all hands, that so- 
called solar influences are produced upon the earth's 
surface by frictionizing activities, and the grand ques- 
tion is, to ascertain precisely the causes productive of 
the vibratory motion of the elemental fluids, or the 
exact method by which light and caloric is manufac- 
tured upon the earth and other planetary bodies. Now, 
if we find that neither emanating particles, or undula- 
tory waves can come from the central orb, and that an 
Electro-Magnetic battery does produce activities of the 
kind mentioned, and that our solar system is one grand 



THE SUN. 261 

Voltaic battery, such as is required to produce those 
grand and beautiful results, then we may consider that 
the great mystery has to a certain extent been solved. 

It is quite evident that nature contains all the ele- 
ments from which all the artificial batteries are pro- 
jected and enabled to operate, and it is no marvel then, 
if nature has within herself, one grand battery that 
operates throughout our entire solar system, embracing 
all the the positive and negative elements within the 
.whole machine. Our limits forbid any extended discus- 
sion of a subject that might require volumes to eluci- 
date to its fullest extent, but we feel impressed that the 
volumes may some day be written elaborating the whole 
theory in accordance with the few ideas presented. 

We think the reader will have discovered that all 
light and heat being positive elements, must be manu- 
factured, and that being exhaustive of their own re- 
sources, they must in some manner be continually gen- 
erated to supply the demand, and also that there must 
be in nature a variety of modes by which these ele- 
ments can be produced. 

It can by no means be supposed that the exterior plan- 
ets are dependent upon solar influences for their change 
of seasons, and that seed time and harvest, summer 
and winter, should only alternate in such lengthy periods; 
for, it would be extremely difficult for us to conceive how 
a race of living beings could be sustained where the pe- 
riodical harvests only occur once in twelve of our years, 
and where the winters must necessarily be prolonged to 
twelve times the length of our own, as would be the 
case upon the planet Jupiter. But when we go still 
farther out, and find that there are planets that could 



262 THE SUN. 

not enjoy these alternations of seasons oftener than 
once in eighty-four years, as upon Uranus, and one 
hundred and sixty-four upon the planet Neptune, it then 
becomes conclusive that some other plan must be intro- 
duced, which will provide for their seed time and harvest, 
than the one that prevails upon our earth. Conse- 
quently, they must occur entirely independent of solar 
influences, and the active light and heat dispensing ele- 
ments must have arrived to that positive condition, in 
those remote and far more ancient orbs, that they regu- 
late their own temperature, and produce any alterna- 
tions of seasons, and all other phenomena connected 
with light and heat which they require, entirely inde- 
pendent of all extraneous influences, except that general 
sympathetic chord that links and binds all worlds to- 
gether in one harmonious whole. 

It will be discovered that light and darkness, as appre- 
ciable conditions upon our earth, are rendered so to us, 
by the peculiar character of the visual lenses through 
which we behold these different conditions, and if we 
had no eye we could not discover the difference, so that 
both are relative, and depend upon the peculiar charac- 
ter of the vision with which we are provided. Most 
probably if we had the eye of an owl or a bat, we 
should look upon the whole thing very differently, and 
prefer the shades of evening to the glare produced by 
the mid-day sun, and our day would only commence after 
that luminary had disappeared behind the western hills. 
We may well suppose that nature provides in her store 
house ample materials from which lenses could be pro- 
duced that would render our light extremely dark, and 
our darkness agreeably light, or that would enable us 



THE SUN. 263 

to see when all the fluid elements by which we are sur- 
rounded, are in a state of inactivity and rest, instead of 
this active vibratory motion which we call light. 

So after all, we perceive the necessity of adapting the 
eye to this peculiar state of things, and without such 
adaptation, there would be no light; and although light 
seems to us to be absolute, probably by a careful observ- 
ation, we shall discover that it is only relative and de- 
pends entirely upon the eye or the peculiar vision. 
Doubtless we could just as easily have been provided 
with lenses that could have discerned all objects in the 
absence of the sun as in its presence, or they could have 
been adapted to a negative condition as easily as to a 
positive. For we very readily discover that the lenses 
used in a spiritual condition, one step in advance of our 
own, must be composed of materials that are entirely 
independent of all influences that render objects visible 
to us, and that our darkness to them is resplendent with 
all the effulgence and glory of an eternal day, simply 
because their vision is more powerfully intensified, and 
the thick darkness presents no obstacle to its penetrat- 
ing glance. 

The question which very naturally arises in the mind 
concerning lighting and warming the interior surface of 
this spherical shell, we trust has been to a certain extent, 
answered in the preceding pages. We show not only in 
this chapter but in other portions of this work as clearly 
as possible without exceeding our limits, that all the ele- 
ments exist inherently upon our earth, in a partially un- 
folded condition, from which to manufacture the needed 
light and warmth for the exterior surface. We also 
show by reasoning from the analogies of nature that the 



264 THE SUN. 

interior of this shell is in a more developed condition 
than the exterior, and that these elements produce their 
own activities independently, and to an extent entirely 
sufficient for all the purposes required, and that the 
aura and empyrial light of the interior world, must nec- 
essarily be soft and mellow, and devoid of those oppres- 
sive glaring influences which we experience upon the 
exterior surface. 

It is by no means difficult for the ordinary reader to 
comprehend that light and heat can be as easily manu- 
factured as anything else, if the materials are all pro- 
vided from which they are produced; and when we learn 
that our earth contains a certain amount of all those 
materials, and that the interior contains all that is nec- 
essary to supply her entire w r ants in this respect, then 
the great mystery is solved and it all becomes plain. 

There can be no more trouble in producing light than 
there is in engendering heat, and every one understands 
that all animal organizations have the apparatus within 
them, and are provided with the elements that enable 
them to generate the requisite amount of animal heat, 
and that it is done entirely independent of the temper- 
ature by which they are surrounded. We very well 
know also, that the animal organization has no element 
of any character in its possession, that it did not re- 
ceive from the great parent, then if the mother had 
those powers to impart, why not permit her to use them 
for her own purposes, and generate her own li^ht and 
heat within herself for the benefit of that beautiful 
world yet unexplored by mortal mam 



CHAP. IX. 

THE INHERENT POWERS OF NATURE ; 

OR 

THE EVOLUTION AND ELABORATION OF WORLDS. 

It is quite evident we inherit an entire physical organ- 
ization from this earth, upon which we live, move and 
have our being. If so, then the physical globe or the 
mineral kingdom with its appertainings, must be our 
great parent, both male and female, our father and our 
mother also. Philosophers say there are sixty-four pri- 
mary elements connected with this earth, and that most 
if not all these several elements enter into the human 
organization, thus constituting man a microcosm of the 
whole, or a part and parcel of the entire mass. It 
would then follow as a sequence, that, if we compre- 
hend the human organization in all its parts and rela- 
tionships, in all its working processes, and its variously 
complicated machinery, we may begin to form a tolera 
bly clear idea of the entire world of which this organ- 
zation is a specimen in miniature. 

If this intimate relationship exists, and we can prop- 
erly call the earth our parent, and if all we physically 
possess, is received from this source, then we must hold 
these elements, properties and attributes, in common 
with the parent. If these elements and attributes 
23 



266 INHERENT POWERS. 

with which we are endowed, and have received from the 
parent, have ultimated in this physical constitution 
which may be properly termed an animal organization 
of smaller proportions, then why may not the earth be 
considered, in some sense of the word, an animal organ- 
ization of vastly larger dimensions. The earth evi- 
dently possesses a superabundance of the elements 
and properties, necessary to produce the animal organ- 
izations. She has an entire sufficiency for her own pur- 
poses, and enough for all her children ; and if the earth 
does not perform some functions analogous to the ani- 
mal race, for what purpose does she use all this vast 
store house of elements and attributes, that she is con- 
stantly giving off to her children so bountifully, and of 
which she has such a superabundance? 

How can this parent of ours give to her children, 
what she does not possess herself? How could she give 
to the animal race a nervous network, and arterial and 
venous circulation, if she has nothing in her organiza- 
tion, analogous to all this in the animal? How could 
she bestow upon the animal race, an apparatus for in- 
haling and exhaling the atmosphere, and extracting and 
using those properties necessary for the preservation of 
life, if she had no organs that were analogous? How 
could she impart to our physical structures, powers of 
locomotion, if she had no such powers to impart. 

The entire animal race, from the most infinitessimal, 
up to the largest living beings that walk the earth, swim 
in the ocean, or float in the atmosphere, are so many 
locomotives or self-moving machines that possess this 
ability inherent, and generate the power within them- 
selves, by which they act and perform their proper func- 



INHERENT POWERS. 267 

tions ; and they have received this element from the 
parent. Does she have so much to impart, and shall 
she not use the same element herself? Philosophers 
discovered some centuries since, that the earth turns 
upon its axis, and that the exterior surface moves at 
the rate of 1,000 miles per hour, and that it has 
another motion in an orbit, of 68,000 miles per hour, and 
if so, that must be locomotion, and the machine must gen- 
erate the forces within itself, that enables it to perform 
these wonderfully arduous duties. We perceive, we 
cannot possess any power or material in our physical or- 
ganisms, we did not receive from this great parent, and 
we perceive also that our great parent must, if she has 
a superabundance of these elements and materials to 
impart to us, use them herself, in a somewhat analogous 
manner, and that she had evidently attained quite an 
advanced condition, before she was capable, or suffi- 
ciently matured, to give birth to animal or vegetable 
life. 

So, we think it will not be disputed that all these dif- 
ferent organized forms of life which exist, were evolved 
from the materials and elements belonging to the earth, 
and that we may trace back the parentage clearly and 
distinctly, and ascertain that they all are a part and 
parcel of the whole. Therefore, we can possess noth- 
ing in our natures, the earth did not possess before us, 
and this our parent possessed a redundancy of those 
elements and materials; that is, enough to supply her 
own wants, and also the wants of all her numerous 
children, belonging to the vegetable and animal king- 
dom. 

Now, we trust, after a careful and scrutinizing exam- 



268 INHERENT POWERS. 

ination of this matter, we shall find a perfect harmony 
and analogy, existing all through these various organiz- 
ations, and where we find peculiar organs and functions 
in the plant, or the animal, or in man, we shall find some- 
thing somewhat analogous in the great mother the 
earth; for truly she could not impart anything to her 
children, she did not possess within herself. Do we 
find a nervous network, ramifying every portion of the 
animal organism, upon which the nerve aura is travel- 
ing back and forth, giving information and transmitting 
the orders of the great monarch that sits upon the 
throne, within the front brain or cerebrum? We also 
find a corresponding net work of Electro-Magnetic 
currents, permeating all portions of the earth and at- 
mosphere upon which those elements may travel with 
equal celerity, performing all their proper functions, 
imparting vigor and animation, and perhaps generating 
the proper forces and conditions, that enable our globe 
to perform her various labors. 

Do we find a circulating fluid that is passing and re- 
passing through all portions of the animal structure, in 
appropriate channels fitted for the purpose? We also 
find the earth has its blood, and great reservoirs in which 
it is contained, and a multitude of channels in which it 
travels, both upon the surface and far below in the 
depths, and she has also a means of transporting this, 
her blood, to the highest sources of all the various chan- 
nels. It would be extremely interesting to notice the 
various means the earth has adopted, in order to keep 
in operation a perpetual circulation of the waters that rest 
in and upon her bosom. The winds are made active 
agents in agitating the great ocean, and the smaller 



INHERENT POWERS. 269 

lakes, sometimes with a force that stirs them almost to 
the bottom, then, the never ceasing rolling tides are 
constantly at work, moving the waters with an irresist- 
ible force, and again the voluminous oceanic currents 
are running hither and thither regardless of all 
other influences, except the one that impels them for- 
ward, some from the equatorial to the polar regions, and 
others in the opposite direction. So, that there is 
hardly any portion of the great oceans that are not 
more or less affected bj those numerous currents. 
Then, the amount of water that is dissolved by caloric, 
and taken up constantly in the form of aqueous vapor, 
to supply the springs of the highest mountains, and that 
falls again to the earth in the shape of rain, hail or 
snow, would in no great length of time, equal all there 
is upon the globe. Thus, we perceive the earth had this 
element of circulation to impart to the various forms 
of organized life she has produced. 

We discover that the animal and vegetable races are 
surrounded and enveloped by atmospheric air; nitrogen 
and oxygen, and that they require a constant supply of 
this element in the interior, and that without this con 
tinuous supply, they perish; and also, that our earth is 
surrounded and enveloped in this element. It is said 
to be forty-five, and may be one hundred miles in depth, 
and that it weighs fifteen pounds to every square inch 
of the 200,000,000 square miles of the earth's superfi- 
cial area. In the animal organization, there are con- 
stant currents passing to and from the interior, through 
the apertures prepared for that purpose, and they have 
inherited this organization from the parent, then, must 
we not suppose that the parent has some analogous or- 



270 INHERENT POWERS. 

ganization. If we cannot subsist without atmospheric 
air in the interior, how can the parent subsist without a 
similar condition; then, a supply of the same element in 
the interior of the earth, must be imperious, and a de- 
mand which nature must furnish, if we inherited all phys- 
ical characteristics, and are composed of material, and 
moved by forces, drawn from this great parent. Can 
we have a general organization that the parent does not 
in some analogous form possess ? Then, we begin to 
see that the earth must also be supplied with those ele- 
ments, oxygen and nitrogen, in the interior as well as 
upon the exterior. 

We perceive also, that the blood in the animal organ- 
ism, is very much confined to the interior ; the channels 
run deep and many of them very near the interior sur- 
face, and thus we shall find it with the parent also. 
Our earth has an enormous quantity of oxygen and hy- 
drogen upon the exterior, and as we must conclude, also, 
upon the interior surface of her spherical shell. Now, 
why all this great superabundant supply of that element, 
unless it is required for her own use, in a manner some- 
what analogous to that in which it is used by the living 
organisms she has produced? We shall find as exten- 
sive currents, and quite as much circulation and activity 
in the atmosphere, as we find in the water, and there 
can be no doubt that the circulation extends to the in- 
terior surface, with the same activity, as manifested 
upon the outside. 

The animal kingdom exists upon the surface of this 
globe, but, it is in the midst, and dependent upon a va- 
riety of gasses, essences, or elements and forces for its 
continuance, and but for these, it could not exist for a 



INHERENT POWERS. ^71 

single day. All the members of this extensive kingdom 
must have nutritive elements that come from the earth 
or mineral kingdom, and they come in the shape of veg- 
etable productions. By this means the earth furnishes 
with nutrition, all the animal race; they must also be 
provided with hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in the 
form of air and water, with carbon, caloric, and a vari- 
ety of other essences, which are but the spiritual ele- 
ments of the mineral kingdom, but which are absolutely 
essential in supplying their wants. Magnetism and 
electricity are very important in the performance of cer- 
tain offices within them as well as the aural element to 
invigorate and give the needed activity, and the higher 
element we call empyria that impregnates them with the 
life principle, and which is able to maintain it as long 
as it would prove a blessing. All such elements and 
forces we must have, and all these the whole animal race 
enjoy from day to day, or they would not subsist ; and 
all are received from the great parent the earth. 

As the great parent must have existed untold millions 
of years before it arrived at a condition in which it was 
possible to produce animal life, and was in possession of 
all elements, essences and forces, to a certain extent 
during that long period, therefore, she must have 
had use for them all the time previous to the existence 
of living animal organizations, and they must have sub- 
served her own individual purposes. The elements, 
quite analogous to those that now enter into and consti- 
tute the animal organisms, and which are provided for 
their subsistence, must have been used by the parent for 
similar purposes, the whole time of the earth's history 
antecedent to the existence of the animal organisms, or 



272 INHERENT POWERS. 

else those elements possessed by the parent would have 
been inactive, and without utility for all those lengthy 
ages, which evidently, could not be the case. 

Again, we discover that the earth has a great redun- 
dancy of all the elements and forces mentioned, that 
she has an ample supply for her own private use, and 
also for the use of all animal organisms. Go down 
into the fountains of the great deep, and ascertain how 
much of this aqueous element is required for the use of 
the animal race; look into the wide extended treasure 
house that contains all the different fluid essences, and 
you will find the supply quite as ample and superabund- 
ant. One half the globe is oxygen ; there is a great 
and overwhelming sufficiency of the other gasses ; 
caloric and magnetism, and electricity are bountifully 
distributed everywhere, and managed and applied with 
the utmost care and discretion, lest these powerful ele- 
ments might produce disturbances of a fatally injurious 
character. Now, we trust it must become plain, that 
this analogy between the great parent self-moving ma- 
chine, and all the smaller machines that are moving upon 
the surface, does actually exist to a very great extent ; and 
by a parity of reasoning, we must conclude it holds 
good through the entire organic arrangement. 

If everyone of these animal productions are locomo- 
tives, and generate the power within themselves by 
which they perform their movements, then the great 
parent which is known to be a locomotive also, must gen- 
erate the necessary power within herself, by which she 
performs corresponding functions. It is entirely unphil- 
oeophical to suppose the earth, if she travels at the speed 
represented in her orbit, and upon her axis, receives 



INHERENT POWERS. 273 

this necessary momentum from any other similar body 
or planet, for what power have they to spare? Would 
it not be as well or better to let each one and all attend 
to their own particular business concerns; and why is it 
that philosophers have undertaken to make one of these 
bodieSj dependent for their powers of locomotion upon 
the other, as they have by so doing, only involved them- 
selves in greater difficulties? 

It seems to be conceded by the popular school of phi- 
losophers who follow Newton, that all the prominent 
forces in nature, which apparently act so conspicuous a 
part in giving propulson to the planets in the solar sys- 
tem, were entirely insufficient to produce the required 
momentum in the outset. Hence, they have been com- 
pelled to appeal to the arm of an omnipotent being to 
start the machine, by applying some peculiar kind of 
force that is not recognized within the realms of the 
natural universe. It is this unnatural mixing up of su- 
pernatural forces, with those that are within the limits 
of the universe, that involve men in so much doubt and 
uncertainty, for if it was necessary to go outside of nature, 
and call upon an omnipotent power, to set the globe 
in motion, we might as well have let him run the ma- 
chine himself. 

Most assuredly, if this omnipotent being was so defi- 
cient in mechanical ability, that he could not contrive 
a power with all the forces in nature at his command, 
which would have started the various planets and set 
their machinery in operation, it would certainly be 
somewhat doubtful whether he would be able, unaided, to 
keep our world in motion, until it can work out all its 
sublime purposes. So, it would appear quite evident 



274 IXHEPEXT POWERS. 

that our philosopers must be somewhat at fault, as no 
doubt the genius and wisdom that could contrive and 
keep in operation a perpetual motion, for so many long 
ages, by natural causes, must have been abundantly 
competent to have brought to bear forces that would 
have started the machine, within the range of natural 
causes also. 

If this globe is a locomotive machine, it must be made 
upon the principle, and endowed with the character- 
istics of other locomotive machines. We find an abund- 
ance- of these smaller locomotives every wher , scattered 
all through the realms of organized animal life, that 
we can examine at our leisure, all inheriting their pe- 
culiar characteristics and organs from the great parent 
locomotive. And we may ascertain that every one of 
them, generate their forces in the interior; within the 
walls of their individual structures, by the use of cer- 
tain organs therein contained. Must we not then con- 
clude the great locomotive generates the necessary pow- 
ers in a similar and analogous manner, by the use of 
certain organs that exist in the interior, and within the 
outer walls of the great orbicular superstructure? 

After grouping together the various facts and phe- 
nomena which present themselves to view in relation ttf 
this subject we trust, but little if anything is want- 
ing to establish the absolute truth of the position as- 
sumed. 

First. We have this stupendous locomotive, the earth, 
which is evidently a mechanical structure of the highest 
possible order: we have all the elements and forces nec- 
essary to Bupply the power to run this machine. 

Secondly. We have a great multitude of smaller 



INHERENT POWERS. 275 

locomotives that are run or kept in motion by use of 
the same elements and forces, of which the large one 
has an abundant supply. 

Thirdly. The small machines are supplied with inte- 
rior organs, and by their aid generate the forces, using 
the same elements, which are carried by suitable ave- 
nues to the interior for * that purpose. Now, when we 
consider that the small machines inherit all their organ- 
ism from the larger, the links to be supplied to make 
this chain of reasoning complete, would seem to be nar- 
rowed down to the smallest possible number. 

It must be admitted also, that, if all small locomo- 
tives are hollow, and have their organs in the interior, 
then large ones must be hollow also, and there can be 
no doubt when we can get access to the interior, we 
shall become acquainted with this organism, and dis- 
cover the perfect analogy which exists throughout the 
entire realms of organized material life, from the larg- 
est to the most infinitesimal. 

Permit us now, to take from this globe of ours suffi- 
cient of the supposed interior contents, to furnish mate- 
rials for about thirty- five other globes of similar dimen- 
sions, we should then have a spherical shell of nearly 
forty miles in thickness; a beautiful mechanical struct- 
ure maintaining the principles of the arch, the symbol 
of strength, in every square mile of its two surfaces. 

Suppose we furnish a suitable breathing apparatus 
at the north or positive pole, and from the abundance 
of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and other ele- 
ments in nature, supply the requisite amount of air and 
water, and all else that is needed for the interior, as 
well as the exterior surface. We should then have a world 



276 INHERENT POWERS 

about one thirty-fifth part of the supposed weight of 
our globe, built in accordance with the highest princi- 
ples of art; comparatively light and buoyant, and that 
might be handled with perhaps one-twentieth part of 
the physical force required, for the clumsy old hulk full 
of molten lava, which has been erected by the philoso- 
phers of a somewhat modern age. 

We may now conceive it possible with a properly 
formed mechanical structure and a superabundance of 
the required elements, to generate all the necessary 
forces for the propulsion of such a globe in both its ax- 
ial and orbital revolutions, without being compelled to 
go outside of the natural universe to ask for aid, or 
without even seeking the reciprocal gravitating influ- 
ences of any other of the heavenly bodies. 

There may be found in and upon our own planet, all 
the propelling forces that can exist in any other portion 
of the universe ; all the positive and negative powers, 
quite sufficiently elaborated to subserve all such pur- 
poses. Then, why go abroad to obtain that of which 
we have an abundance for our own use, and of which 
this or no other planet has an excess beyond their own 
demands. We cannot entertain a shadow of doubt, con- 
cerning the skill and ability of those powers that pro- 
jected, and set in motion the great self-moving mechan- 
ical structure that we inhabit. We cannot doubt but 
they must have understood perfectly well, the principles 
connected with locomotives, quite as well as the engin- 
eers of the present day, who seem to construct and run 
those of smaller dimensions with such marked success. 

Every principle connected with locomotion has been 
in existence from all eternity, and it can hardly be sup- 



INHERENT POWERS. 277 

posed that such important matters were overlooked in 
the construction of the various planets. All the forces 
by which these various machines are successfully ope- 
rated, have eternally existed also, and we can by no 
means suppose that a proper application of these forces, 
would have been neglected in the propulsion of the ma- 
chinery of a solar system, where they would seem to be 
of such absolute importance. Indeed, a proper appli- 
cation of the requisite forces, that would render all the 
planetary bodies, self-moving machines or locomotives, 
would seem to have been a grand desideratum; an at- 
tainment which must have become perfectly indispens- 
able. 

It is quite obvious that the forces exist in nature by 
which the whole machinery of solar systems are suc- 
cessfully operated; it is also obvious that those forces 
must have been applied by competent intelligence and 
power, and further, that the requisite forces are applied 
to each planet distinctively. There can certainly be no 
more propriety in a reciprocal exchange of motive power 
between planets in the solar system, than there would 
be between so many animals, or members of a human 
family. In every case, each must become an independ- 
ent, self-moving machine. 

It may not be given to us to discover the exact nature 
of the organs by which this force is generated and 
brought to bear, but we do show most clearly, the neces- 
sity of some such organs, and we open up to view a 
locality amply sufficient for their most extended opera- 
tions, and also show that our mother the earth is in pos- 
session of all the requisite powers which will enable 
her, if properly applied, to attend to her most arduous 
24 



278 INHERENT POWERS. 

duties, -without calling upon any other heavenly body 
for assistance. If we shall succeed in opening up this 
vast interior world to the investigation of future gener- 
ations, we shall be entirely satisfied, without being able 
to explain, or give an elaborate description of the minu- 
tia of all the vast and complicated elemental machinery, 
it must necessarily contain. 

This working machinery of the interior of the shell, 
evidently constitutes our globe, a great parent locomo- 
tive, and enables her to work out in accordance with 
natural causes, her ultimate destiny, and perform all 
those various duties that usually devolve upon planet- 
ary bodies. We now have a mechanical structure pre- 
sented to our view, relieved of its enormous load of 
bungling imperfections, and unnatural incongruities, as 
well as an overwhelming quantity of material which is 
worse than useless to this world, and which would be 
quite sufficient to supply the wants of thirty-five others 
of equal dimensions. Give us a magnificent world of 
this character constructed upon those harmonious prin- 
ciples of architectural beauty and strength, in all its 
vast proportions, and it would then certainly reflect the 
highest possible credit and honor, upon the superemi- 
nent skill, the exalted genius and wisdom, which could 
project and execute so astonishing a work. We should 
certainly behold its beauty and increased utility with 
higher emotions of reverence, than could possibly have 
possessed the mind, accustomed to think of our old 
world, filled brimming full with useless rubbish, or terri- 
bly heated molten lava. The latter idea is calculated 
to shock all the finer sensibilities of our nature, and 
leads the mind to institute a standing inquiry, if it 



INHERENT POWERS. 2 J 9 

might not have been constructed upon some more phi- 
losophic and harmonious principles. 

Before leaving this subject, we notice another impor- 
tant analogy existing betweeen the great parent, and 
the smaller organized locomotives which is founded upon 
the principle of exhaustion, and continued accumulation 
of the needed forces ; for, it is a well known fact that a 
constant supply of forces must be generated in order to 
enable the smallest insect to perform its proper func- 
tions. The surrounding elements must be constantly 
had in requisition. The animal must be supplied with 
the required amount of nutrition, out of which to man- 
ufacture blood, fibrine, and all the constituent materials 
of the system, in order to supply the waste; and also 
atmosphere, electricity, magnetism, and all the needed 
elements, out of which his interior forces are evolv- 
ed. An unceasing supply must be had to enable 
it to perform its continuous work; for labor, in all cases, 
is exhaustive of the forces by which it is performed. 

It is no matter whether this labor is accomplished by 
the industrious ant that piles up its conical domicile, the 
bee that labors to lay by its luscious hoard, the fleet 
hound that pursues the frighted deer, the laboring 
man that delves in the earth to obtain his subsistence, 
or the vast world that rolls upon its axis, and pursues 
its rapid course in its mighty orbit around the central 
luminary. All must in some maimer be constantly sup- 
plied with the needed forces, and all must generate them 
for their own purposes ; and one globe can no more de- 
pend upon another for assistance in generating and 
thus producing those forces, than one of the animal 
race, the insect or the man ; each must eat its own food, 



280 INHERENT POWERS. 

and elaborate the elements that subserve those purposes 
for himself, by the use of the organs that are inherent 
in their natures, and thus we see our globe must have 
analogous powers inherent in her nature also. 

When philosophers learn all the facts in relation to 
this subject, they will ascertain that our mother earth 
contains, and possesses within herself inherently, all the 
organic structure, and is capable of elaborating all 
forces for her own purposes, and is continually exercis- 
ing her locomotive power, in a manner perfectly analo- 
gous to those of her children who have drawn upon 
her resources for all the power they possess, and by 
which they are enabled to perform all their varied func- 
tions and duties. 

Moreover, we shall find all solid bodies to be in- 
active, inclined to repose, and that solidity is synony- 
mous with inertia, that solid bodies do not move unless 
extraneous force is brought to bear upon them, and 
hence, it became necessary for philosophers to call 
upon some outside force to propel the planets in their 
various movements, as long as they recognized the so- 
lidity of the earth and other heavenly bodies. If the 
planetary worlds are solid, or contain no machinery by 
which they may generate their own self-moving powers, 
they would be so many dead weights suspended in the 
universe, and require the continuous exertions of all the 
spiritual forces in existence, to keep them moving. 

Even then, we are apprehensive the machinery 
would drag and finally cease operations in consequence 
of an exhaustion of power, and we very much doubt if 
sufficient forces could be found in all the spiritual 
realms, to propel and sustain our own ponderous 



INHERENT POWERS. 281 

globe, if it was solid to the center, or if it had to de- 
pend upon such extraneous force. 

The most careless reader will discover at a glance, 
the utility, harmony, and beauty of such a self-propel- 
in g arrangement, and will be compelled to admit, that 
a globe without the needed apparatus for performing 
its own proper functions, in accordance with universal 
laws, would be an extremely clumsy and unmechanical 
affair. It would be a mere botch, and as useless as 
a steamer or cotton-factory destitute of motive power; 
and it would necessarily bring its designers and builders 
into lasting disrepute. So we perceive, in order to con- 
struct a world in accordance with the higher principles 
of the art, and one that may do credit to the projector, 
by answering all the purposes for which it may be de- 
signed, it must be built hollow, or in the form of an 
orbicular shell. 

There would be as much impropriety in building one 
solid, or in filling the vast interior cavity with an intensely 
raging fire, as there would, in constructing the steamer 
or the manufactory upon similar principles ; both must 
be hollow or contain a great internal cavity in which is 
found the necessary machinery, that utilizes these struct- 
ures; and both are constructed upon principles that har- 
monize with those that are inherent in the physical 
globe. And it must be conceded, that if the powers of 
locomotion are inherent in this globe, then all other 
powers that are properly attached to globes in their 
more advanced condition, must be inherent also. That, 
its ability to furnish its own light, warmth and life es- 
sences, energizing influences, and all other powers and 
forces that may be required in worlds, during all their 



282 INHERENT POWERS. 

stages of unfoldment from their periods of infancy up 
to the highest condition, must be inherently attached to 
the individual world itself. Although these powers may 
exist for interminable ages, in a latent unevolved con- 
dition, and although our world is at this time apparent- 
ly dependent upon the great parent the sun for its re- 
flective influences, in producing the required amount of 
light and heat. Yet, it is quite evident that it has in a 
latent c ondition, those powers within itself, that may at 
some future day be elaborated, so as to subserve all the 
purposes of this planet, and not only that, it will be 
able to furnish such beneficial influences, to the satelites 
by which it may be surrounded. 

We might inquire, if this is not the case, where the 
great luminary of day obtained the unbounded surplus 
of the light giving and heat dispensing influences with 
which it seems to be endowed. Can it be supposed that 
it was created or formed in its present condition, or like 
all things of which we have any knowledge, did it not 
once exist in a state of infancy ; and develop itself up 
to its present stupendous proportions, in which it may 
dispense all these beneficent influences to those planetary 
worlds which seem to sustain the relationship to him, of 
younger and less developed children ? 

Every intelligent individual who, with the means in his 
possession, takes a survey or makes an examination of 
the so-called luminary in the center of our system, the 
earth we inhabit, and the moon that accompanies us in 
our journeys, must inevitably conclude that these three 
planetary bodies are in very different conditions of 
elaboration or unfoldment. They must concede that 
the sun is more advanced, and is in possession of pow- 



INHERENT POWERS. 283 

ers far superior to the earth, and also, that the earth is 
in a far higher condition than the moon, and, 
that the age of these several orbs must bear a sim- 
ilar relationship to each other. As, it must be acknowl- 
edged that it has required time to elaborate these 
different planets, and furnish them with the various ele- 
mental powers they possess, commensurate with their 
varied conditions. 

The nebulous theory contemplates this vast difference, 
in the relative ages and development of the heavenly 
bodies, and recognizes the idea that the younger pre- 
cedes, or is thrown off from the elder in a very une- 
volved condition. In fact, there can be no intelligent 
theory of any kind established, without recognizing 
some such relationship, and some such principles of un- 
foldment, for it cannot be supposed that any one with 
sufficient intelligence to contemplate subjects of this 
character, can entertain an idea that all the planetary 
bodies are of equal age, and in the same condition of 
development. 

If the planetary bodies are subject to evolution and 
advancement in anyone particular, then it may well be 
supposed they are alike subject to evolution and unfold- 
ment in all particulars ; and, that all their inherent ele- 
ments and powers are gradually changing to a higher 
condition. Hence, we are driven to the conclusion, that 
those which seem at present in an infantile condition, 
and manifest only feeble, inactive, negative forces like 
our moon, will in process of time unfold their latent 
powers, and shine out with all the positive, magnetic 
glories of a sun in the firmament. That, they will rise 
from the feeble dependent conditions in which all their 



284 INHERENT POWERS 

latent inherent powers are inactive, to a gloriously inde- 
pendent condition, in which those elemental forces shall 
be unfolded, and exhibit themselves in their stupendous 
proportions. 

We observe upon our earth, while we at the present 
period, are appparently dependent upon solar influ- 
ences, to impregnate and energize the elements inhe- 
rently in our possession, in order to produce warmth or 
caloric, that, those elements are more active upon that 
portion of the globe contiguous to the equator, and less 
active as we approach the polar regions. There are, 
no doubt a superabundance of the positive, active forces 
in the torrid zone, and an equally large supply of the 
negative in the frigid or higher latitudes, while the inter- 
mediate zone seems to enjoy a sort of happy equilibrium, 
or an alternation of heat and cold ; and is therefore 
called temperate. All this would seem to depend, and 
perhaps does, upon the particular manner in which the 
sun's influences fall upon the different portions of the 
globe; whether vertically or more obliquely. 

However, there are evidences which are undenia- 
ble, that climatic phenomena depend upon conditions 
found upon the earth, still more than upon solar influ- 
ences; else, how could there be an open Polar Sea with 
a temperate clime in the extreme north, beyond the 
frigid belt of perpetual ice? 

Again, how could the enormous quantities of fossil- 
ized remains of tropical plants and animals, found in 
the extreme north, have been produced, if, during the 
mutations of the earth's history, this portion had not 
at some period enjoyed a tropical clime? 

If we could carefully examine the sun which appears 



INHERENT POWERS. 285 

to be the great beneficent fountain of the essential ele- 
ments that we require, we shall no doubt discover that 
there can be no difference in regard to temperature, 
between the equatorial and polar regions, because of the 
fully developed condition of all the positive magnetic 
active forces. They have necessarily diffused them- 
selves upon all portions of his surface, and spread 
around his electric orb an atmosphere of magnetism 
and aura, so that all there is of negative elements at- 
tached to him are deeply enshrouded in this highly 
unfolded positive covering which seems to reflect itself 
upon us with such astonishingly resplendent beauty and 
glory. But, that there is still an opaque negative ele- 
ment within this brilliant magnetic exterior covering, is 
fully proven by the numerous broad spots that appear 
upon his surface, with their shadowy, fringed penum- 
bras, with centers, that are filled with opacity and 
darkness. 

It would be impossible to take the most casual survey 
of this broad universe, which can come to the notice of 
mortal vision, and behold all the wondrous variety of 
planetary worlds in their different conditions, and not 
adopt the conclusion, that the sun has arrived at his 
gloriously magnetic condition by passing through elab- 
orating processes, that must have required almost an 
infinitude of succeeding ages. We must admit, that 
this conspicuous orb has been, for an inconceivable pe- 
riod, unceasingly working out and unfolding the stu- 
pendous designs of the supremely wise architect who 
projected and set in operation the infantile planet which 
has so long been the central apparent luminary of this 
magnificent solar system. 



286 INHERENT POWERS. 

It will be observed, then, that latitudinal distinctions 
or differences of climatic temperature cannot exist upon 
the sun, for the reason that all its elemental powers 
must be in a highly elaborated condition, operating 
harmoniously and uniformly throughout all its various 
realms from the equator to the poles. No scientific 
mind will contend that the sun is dependent upon an- 
other orb for any of the vast powers which it constantly 
displays, and which it evidently has in its own possess- 
ion. It is obvious, then, if the sun has arrived at an 
independent condition, generating its own elemental 
forces, without any extrinsic aid, those forces must 
operate uniformly upon every portion of its superficial 
area. 

We think that few men of independent minds will be 
inclined to deny the unfoldment, or evolutionary doc- 
trine in respect to worlds, because it is so obviously 
written upon every accessible portion of the universe. 
Hence, all planetary bodies must evidently possess every 
power within themselves in a more or less advanced 
state; and as a sequence, the period must arrive in the 
history of all worlds, when their powers become suffi- 
ciently unfolded, so that light and warmth must diffuse 
themselves to all portions of their surfaces equally, the 
same as upon the sun. 

Without doubt, a period must arrive, when they, like 
the sun, do not receive sufficient of such elements from 
other sources, or when in their spiral orbits they attain 
to that immense distance from the parent luminary, that 
his influences are not equal to the supply of their wants, 
and when they have developed their own inherent 
powers sufficiently for their own requirements in those 



INHERENT POWERS. 287 

respects. For, it now becomes evident that a planet suf- 
ficiently developed to generate its own light and heat, 
would diffuse those elements upon all portions of the 
exterior surface, and that there would be a very gene- 
ral equilibrium, and that all portions of such a globe 
would enjoy an equal supply; so, there could be no 
torrid, temperate and frigid zones, because all would.be 
alike. 

There cannot be a shadow of doubt, but a higher, 
advanced condition of a world is far superior to a lower, 
more undeveloped condition ; and their projectors and 
builders must have been capable of carrying out the 
grand purposes for which worlds are constructed. So, 
we shall discover, the inhabitants of the exterior planets 
must be blessed with perpetual day and eternal summer; 
for there can be no influences we can discover, that 
would produce the rigors of severe winter, or the 
scorching heats of a tropical season, where all ele- 
ments are brought up to that harmonious and elabo- 
rated condition of self-dependence that assimilates to 
the character of the central sun. 

Violent extremes of heat and cold are evidently pro- 
duced by an inharmonious condition of antagonistic or 
positive and negative elements; and doubtless where 
those elements are properly evolved and equalized, a 
happy equilibrium of temperature will prevail. At the 
present period in our earth's history, we find great di- 
versity of temperatures in consequence of the unelabo- 
rated condition of the elements; at times, and in places, 
we have too large a supply of the magnetic, and of 
course correspondingly warm weather; on the other 
hand, wherever and whenever electricity predominates, 



288 INHERENT POWERS. 

it necessarily produces cold in excess. But, we enter* 
tain an unbounded confidence, that those powers who 
are able to construct an infant world, and manage it? 
affairs successfully until it attains its majority, gets from 
under parental influence, becomes independent, and is 
able to supply its own wants, will be abundantly compe- 
tent to preserve an equilibrium of the various forces 
necessary for its continuance, until it accomplishes all its 
ultimate objects, and to the fullest extent, the original 
design of the projectors. 

Although this portion of the subject is by no means 
complete, yet we may possibly venture some further 
reply to the early inquiry that has presented itself to 
the mind of the reader, when told of a beautiful world 
in the interior of the spherical shell which we inhabit. 
A world, too, far more elaborated, and in a more highly 
finished condition, than this exterior surface which we 
occupy. The query of course relates to the manner 
of obtaining illuminating and warming influence, in the 
absence of the great central magnet of our solar system. 
We simply remark concerning this matter, that all will 
become plain, when it is conceded that worlds possess 
the latent powers within themselves, which enable them 
to generate those elements, when sufficiently advanced 
or unfolded. 

The interior surface being in a more highly developed 
condition than the exterior, it has become already ca- 
pable of generating and producing its own light and 
warmth, upon the same principle as those planets that 
are entirely beyond the lighting and warming influences 
of the sun. The brilliant displays of aural lights that 
are so frequently beheld emanating from the arctic 



INHERENT POWERS. 289 

circle, have thus far baffled all attempts of scientific 
minds to unfold their mysteries; and these phenomena 
remain to-day, as they ever have, entirely inexplicable. 
Although they sometimes light up a great portion of 
the northern hemisphere with unequaled beauty and 
grandeur, with their softened mellow scintillations, yet 
all the causes that produce their glories, are shrouded 
and concealed from the minds of men, in the darkness 
of Egyptian night. Very many observations have been 
made by men of learning, in order to penetrate this 
mystery, but, as yet, they have resulted in very little 
that would explain the philosophy of the aurora borealis. 
They have learned some few facts in connection with 
those magnificent displays, and there the matter rests, 
as far as science is concerned. 

It will be noticed that they make their appearance 
almost universally in the night, and very seldom when 
the sun is shining; as the sun's influences seem to be 
more powerful upon our earth than the elements that 
produce the aurora. The aural element, when in activ- 
ity, displays a softened and mellow light; but still, in 
the extreme north, even upon the exterior surface of the 
globe, one that is at times entirely sufficient for practi- 
cal purposes; and, we hesitate not to say, that an ex- 
ploration of the grand interior, where this kind of light 
universally prevails, would give us a lucid explanation 
of the whole subject of aural phenomena. If the aural 
light has no connection with the interior world, how 
strange that it should occur at the poles, the natural 
center of extreme cold, where the least possible amount 
of solar influences can be extended, and the only por- 
tion of our globe where can possibly be found accessible 
25 



290 INHERENT POWERS 

apertures that "would connect the two surfaces; and how 
singular that such lights should exhibit themselves in 
their greatest glory in the absence of the sun ! 

Here we may discover two great facts, which present 
themselves upon the broad face of universal nature. 
One is, that by certain inherent powers existing upon 
our globe, elements may be found that produce a 
beautiful light, sufficient for all human practical pur- 
poses, in the absence of the sun ; and another is, that 
certain of the planetary worlds attached to our solar 
system, have extended their orbits so far from the grand 
central luminary, that it is a simple impossibility for 
them to be lighted and warmed from that source. 
Hence it becomes absolutely necessary for them to de- 
pend upon their individually evolved resources, gener- 
ating their own illumination, and producing their own 
general temperature, in a manner that would correspond 
with the production of the aural lights, and the warm 
clime of the open polar sea in the extreme north upon 
this our more undeveloped earth. 

We conclude it is not too much to say, and we ven- 
ture the opinion, based upon analogical reasoning, that 
the interior surface of our globe is already unfolded to 
a condition quite as high as the exterior of the outer 
independent planets. That the beautiful aural and 
magnetic lights, and genial warmth, are all produced 
by the more advanced inherent powers existing within 
this shell, and that the aural polar lights are to a great 
extent generated by powers and elements that exist in 
and emanate from the interior world. We hesitate not 
to assert, if there was no such beautifully unfolded 
inner world connected with the polar regions, there 



INHERENT POWERS. 291 

would be no such grand illuminations in the north, or 
in the south, to awake the sublimest emotions in the 
mind of every beholder. 

Dalton, no doubt very correctly conceived the idea, 
that the aural element crossed the electro-magnetic cur- 
rents at right angles, and thus the fine etherealized 
fluid particles, frictionizing, might produce the aural 
lights, and when we consider that the longitudinal cur- 
rents are continually converging to a center at or near 
the poles, we may well suppose that illuminating influ- 
ences might be produced, to a certain extent, in that 
manner, upon the exterior surface. But we are per- 
suaded that the more brilliant displays are dependent 
upon interior influences. 

We have now discovered very clearly, that all of na- 
ture is not dependent upon solar influences for light and 
heat, but, that those elements may be produced upon 
other globes that are sufficiently advanced, as well as 
upon the sun, and that he cannot possibly possess any 
more advantages over those that are younger, than the 
fully grown and developed man possesses over the child 
or mere youth. Another great fact we learn in connec- 
tion with this subject, is, the existence of solar systems, 
and, from an examination of this one, in which our 
earth holds a position, we are impelled to conclude that 
the whole universe is constructed upon a similar plan; 
or that we only behold, when we survey the great ex- 
panse of the siderial heavens, one vast assemblage of 
solar systems, or rather the grand centers about which 
they revolve. If solar systems absolutely prevail 
through the immensity of the universe, and this is the 
general plan everywhere adopted in the production and 



292 INHERENT POWERS. 

arrangement of worlds, we may well institute some in- 
quiries in regard to their natures, and the method of 
building and congregating planets together in this or- 
derly manner. 

If we take a cursory survey of our solar system, we 
shall find that most of the primaries have become cen- 
ters, about which more or less satellites are revolving, 
in various periods of time, according to their several 
distances from the respective central foci, about which 
they revolve. Our little earth already has one, Jupiter 
four, Saturn eight, Uranus six, and perhaps more, 
while Neptune is supposed to have two, and for aught 
astronomers absolutely know, may have a numerous 
family of attendants. All these look very much like 
planetary systems in a certain stage of development; 
and it would evidently be far easier to produce a solar 
system from one of the planets with his attendant 
satellites, than to manufacture one from entire new ma- 
terials, or in any other manner that the human mind 
can contemplate. 

In fact, are they not all solar systems, in the proper 
sense of the term, already? They certainly look, to an 
observer, very much like such, and seem to contain 
within themselves all the inherent properties and quali- 
ties of the parent system, to which they are attached. 
They evidently resemble the parent quite as nearly as 
the child can the more fully grown man, and all they 
seem to require is age and further elaboration ; and, 
there cannot be a doubt, if we give them sufficient time, 
they will equal the parent in every sense of the word. 
The exterior satellite of Saturn is now said to be nearly 
two and a half millions of miles from the planet, and 



INHERENT POWERS 293 

supposed to be about the size of Mars, while the size 
of those interior diminish as they approach the planet. 

Now, it would not be very surprising if at some time 
in the ages of the future, at no very distant period, the 
larger moons of Saturn and Uranus should be attended 
by satellites also. It will be noticed that Neptune, the 
most exterior orb known in our system, is purely a tele- 
scopic planet, and hence it is so extremely difficult, even 
by the aid of powerful lenses, to become very well in- 
formed in relation to its moons. It has taxed all the 
energies of a Herschell, to form an acquaintance with 
the moons of Uranus, and distance is no doubt the 
grand reason why our astronomers are not better ac- 
quainted with the operations of the outside planets, and 
the systems of worlds revolving around them. 

The planet Neptune is said to be 1,200,000,000 
miles beyond the orbit of Uranus, and still beyond the 
orbit of the former, may be found within the limits of 
our own solar system, ample room for numerous other 
heavenly bodies, without interfering with any of the 
systems that exist in the vast sidereal heavens. This 
inconceivable space is no doubt occupied, to a certain 
extent, by other planets, surrounded with their retinues 
of satellites, all of which, have as yet escaped the notice 
of astronomers, and are probably beyond the reach of 
the most powerful lenses yet manufactured by men> 
Now r , if these partially elaborated solar systems exist, 
as we have shown, contiguous to, and within the pur- 
lieus of this larger one, then we may well suppose that 
the central orbs of the less finished or smaller systems, 
have become independent of the great parent sun. 

Now, it cannot, upon any principle of sound reason* 



294 INHERENT POWERS. 

ing, be supposed that the sun, the great central lumi- 
nary, possesses one attribute, or displays one power, or 
quality, that does not exist, in a latent condition, in the 
earth or in the moon, and in all other planets and 
satellites of our solar system. All were brought into 
existence, and elaborated in accordance with the same 
universal law, by use of the same character of forces, 
and the same kind of materia 1 , but all are evidently of 
different ages, and in different conditions of develop- 
ment, and hence it is, they present such very different 
conditions and varied manifestations. The sun has an 
orbital and axial revolution, and it cannot be supposed 
that it receives the power to perform those revolutions 
from any outside influence, but we must believe it gene- 
rates its own forces. It also has a sufficient supply of 
light and warmth for its own purposes, and it apparently 
possesses very much to impart to those who seem to be 
dependent upon him for those elements so necessary to 
existence. 

No person who gives the subject a moment's reflection 
can entertain the idea that the sun is dependent upon 
any other orb in the sidereal heavens, for his large sup- 
ply of the necessary elements, light and heat, but that 
he produces them by powers inherent in himself. If so, 
we must conclude that the sun has arrived to this super- 
eminent positive condition, like all other things in the 
natural universe, by processes of development; that, he 
has passed from the lower or negative condition, where 
he an as a recipient of such favors, to the higher positive 
state, where he may be a bountiful dispenser of these 
precious gifts. Then, we may well inquire in relation 
to the condition of those planets in the exterior orbits 



INHERENT POWERS. 295 

of our solar system, in respect to their dependence upon 
the sun for light and warmth. 

The quantity of illumination received from the sun 
upon Uranus, is three hundred and sixty times less than 
that upon the earth, and yet, Dr. Dick, after making 
this statement, offers many frivolous arguments to show 
that such an amount might be sufficient to supply the 
wants of the inhabitants, and answer all the purposes 
of that far distant planet. If he had at the time of 
these remarks, possessed any knowledge of the existence 
of Neptune, which is revolving in an orbit so many 
hundred million miles beyond Uranus, he would doubt- 
less have brought to bear the same arguments, although 
the sun would appear to its inhabitants but as a twink- 
ling star in the far-off universe. 

But, can a reasoning mind suppose, that l-360th part 
of the illuminating power we receive from the sun, 
would produce any perceptible influence, in giving light 
and warmth to a world? All the arguments that could 
be brought to bear, by the ablest men that have lived, 
would still leave a planet dependent upon such resour- 
ces, for its necessary warmth and illumination, in the 
coldness and darkness of eternal death. So, that the 
exterior planets must be either deficient of those warm- 
ing, illuminating, and positive influences, or else they 
must have possessed such powers latent, within them- 
selves, ready to be developed when circumstances 
required. 

We then discover, it is an absolute necessity at the 
present time, and has been for innumerable ages in the 
past, that the exterior planets in our solar system, 
should furnish their own light and warmth, not only for 



296 INHERENT POWERS. 

themselves but for the use and benefit of the second- 
aries that surround them, and that they must have 
passed on from a negative, electric condition of dark- 
ness, and cold, to a magnetic, positive condition of illu- 
mination and warmth. And evidently they must ulti- 
mately assume the same position in the midst of their 
satellites, as our sun has assumed in the center of his 
planetary system. Consequently all orbits of all 
planets and satellites, must be spiral, and tend out- 
wards from the center, and we must conclude that there 
must have been a time in the infinite ages of the past 
when our sun was young and preponderatingly nega- 
tive, electric and cold, and dependent upon some cen- 
tral orb, for its light and warmth, and when it made its 
orbital revolution^ about its central parent in a few 
months, or perhaps a few days. Evidently is period 
of revolution has very gradually enlarged, until it has 
attained to the incomprehensible dimensions that are 
almost beyond human conception, and that tax the 
utmost energies of the mind, in their computation. So 
that through all these interminable ages, it has been 
developing and unfolding those powers that it possessed 
in a latent condition from its earliest existence. 

Astronomers are now well satisfied that the sun re- 
volves in an orbit, carrying with it all our solar system, 
at the rate of 28,000 miles per hour, and that it would 
require 18,200,000 years to make a single revolution, 
and that it has only traveled l-3000th part of its orbit, 
since the bible history of earth's creation. With this 
wonderful fact in view, we may consider the sun as one 
vast luminous planet, sustaining the same relationship 
to some central orb, as the primary planets sustain to 



INHERENT POWERS. 297 

him, and as the secondaries sustain to their primaries. 
And if this relationship, which is recognized by astron- 
omers, is a living fact, can they suppose it was attained 
regardless of the eternal principles of evolvement and 
growth, or has it been arrived at and produced by the 
same great law of progressive advancement that ulti- 
mates in such relationships, among all things that exist 
in every portion of this universe ? 

Can we suppose that our moon or the moons of Jupi- 
ter or Saturn, some of which revolve around their cen- 
tral orb in a very few days, and at comparatively short 
distances, commenced their existence coeval with, or 
that they are of an age equal to the sun who requires 
such interminable ages to perform a single journey? 
We think the candid reflecting reader will arrive at the 
conclusion that the sun must have passed through all 
the intermediate conditions, that are possible between 
the present state of those moons and its own; that from 
a secondary it became a primary, with a family of satel- 
lites about him, and from that condition, it gradually 
became the great central luminous body we behold, after 
our system had in its spiral revolutions, traveled beyond 
the influence of the older central orb, to w T hich our sun 
with his satellites was originally attached. 

Now, upon this theory, we may suppose, which is no 
doubt the fact, that Neptune has her full quota of six 
to eight moons, which, though entirely beyond the reach 
of the best arranged telescope, are revolving around 
this planet in orbits at various distances. It has, as wo 
have discovered, become an independent orb, generating 
and furnishing, not only her own magnetism, but also 
sufficient to dispense to her family of moons, for, if this 



298 INHERENT POWERS. 

is not the case then thev are destitute of light and 
warmth, as it is very evident the amount they can re- 
ceive from the sun, must be an infinitesimal quantity, 
and entirely insufficient to -produce any beneficial result. 

The planet Neptune being at a distance of 1,200,- 
000,000 miles beyond the orbit of Uranus, it will be 
seen, that there is room for a solar system, of 1,200,- 
000,000 miles in diameter, and that her outermost 
satellite might revolve in an orbit 210,000,000 miles 
larger in diameter than that of Jupiter, without inter- 
fering with any of the neighboring systems. All this 
might be done, even if the orbits of the different bodies 
in those systems were upon the same plane; and that 
might be considered a very respectable amount of terri- 
tory for a young planetary system to occupy. But, if 
the planes of the orbits of Neptune's satellites should 
diverge from those of Uranus, which of course they do, 
then they could stretch out in their spiral journeys to 
an indefinite extent, without interfering in any manner 
with other systems; thus extending their limits through 
all the eternities of the future, as other systems have 
through the eternities of the past. 

Objections may be made against the idea of spiral 
arid cons;antly increasing orbits of the heavenly bodies, 
from the fact that it is not known that our solar year 
has increased in length so much as a minute in all time. 
Neither can it be proven that it has not increased, for 
no accurate observations could have been made previous 
to the introduction of the Copcrnican theory, which was 
presented to the world only 360 years since, and it will 
bo impossible to establish the fact, that in 400 revolu- 
tions, the earth has not receded from the center suffi- 



INHERENT POWERS 299 

cient to make our year one minute longer. One minute 
in 400 years is a very small amount of time, but give 
us that minute, and we shall establish our theory beyond 
the possibility of contradiction; and we assume in ac- 
cordance with the analogies existing in nature ; that our 
annual revolution has not only increased in point of 
time, but that the earth with all the planets is gradually 
receding from the central orb, just the same as the sun 
has receded from its grand center until it requires over 
18,000,000 years to perform a single revolution. 

There is no living astronomer, who can prove that 
our earth has not passed spirally outward from the sun 
one or even five million miles, since the Bible history 
of creation, or within the past 6,000 years. Neither is 
there any person who can show, that our lunar attend- 
ant has not gradually receded in her orbit, more than 
half her distance from the earth, since her first forma- 
tion. We claim that all the heavenly bodies in the 
broad universe, no matter what their present condition 
may be, have once been infantile satellites or moons, 
and that they have been constructed or built mostly 
from materials taken from the central planet about 
which they revolve. We claim further, that all have 
commenced their career in an orbit not over 100,000 
miles from the parent planet; and, that they have very 
slowly moved outwards in spiral orbits, as they have 
developed their own latent powers. 

Thus we find the interior satellite of Saturn but 120,- 
000 miles distant from that planet at the present, and 
there are doubtless some others invisible to human eyes 
much nearer than that to their parent orbs. Now, for 
purposes of computation we may suppose that the orbit 



300 INHERENT POWERS. 

of our earth increases so that 400 revolutions might add 
one minute to our year; and we may make this calcula- 
tion, keeping in view the great law that seems to hold 
good as far as our solar system extends, that the larger 
the orbit the less the velocity. We should find, if our 
orbit enlarged and our year increased in length at the 
rate above mentioned, that in less than half a million 
years, our annual revolution would be one day of 
twenty-four hours longer than at the present time. 
We might also find that in something over a billion 
years the orbit of the earth would be extended to 500,- 
000.000 miles from the sun, or beyond that in which 
Jupiter now performs his lengthy journeys; and, that 
our annual revolutions will require twelve of our years 
in their performance. 

When we take into consideration the movements and 
revolutions of worlds and planetary systems, what is a 
billion or ten billion years? Nature, or those powers 
who manipulate its forces, have never been niggardly 
of time; when they require it, to accomplish their pur- 
poses, they draw upon the inexhaustible fountain, and 
the vast eternities always furnish the amount demanded, 
whether it may be millions or billions of ages. If tho 
mind should revert back through the eternities of the 
past, to any conceivable, or computable number of cen- 
turies or millions of centuries, it would bring us no 
nearer the commencement than we are to-day; neither 
would such an interminable period in the future approx- 
imate any nearer the end. 

So we perceive, that length^of time required in order 
to carry out the great purposes of the divine architects, 
who construct and exert an influence over the powers 



INHERENT POWERS. 301 

that move worlds in their orbits, is a matter of no con- 
sideration, and whether it takes innumerable thousands, 
or millions, or billions of years, to perfect their plans, 
it is all one to the spirit intelligences who know no be- 
ginning of days, or end of time, but who are ever in the 
morning of their existence, though cycles of eternities 
may have passed away. 

It must then appear very evident to the mind that 
gives this subject a thought, that our sun was once but 
an ordinary planet surrounded by its secondaries pre- 
cisely the same as Jupiter, Saturn, or Uranus, for as- 
tronomers now pronounce it a vast luminous planet, 
pursuing its journey in its own appointed orbit, in the 
same manner with the primaries, only its orbit is vastly 
larger. We cannot possibly suppose that the sun has 
been governed by any different laws, or composed of 
any different materials, or that any very different pro- 
cesses were introduced in its construction, but that it 
commenced its career by the same general mode of 
procedure, upon the part of those who engaged in its 
production. Neither can we suppose the exalted intel- 
ligences who superintend the construction of planetary 
bodies during a comparatively more modern period are 
any less competent than those who projected and set in 
motion this great parent of our system, together with 
all the innumerable hosts of glistening orbs that shine 
forth in the sidereal heavens. 

A very cursory glance at our solar system will show 
that all the more recent formations of this character 
have been produced in the shape of moons revolving 
around the various planets in small orbits, and perform- 
ing their revolutions in a very brief space of time. It 
26 



302 INHERENT POWERS. 

can by no means be supposed that these youthful orbs 
are to remain moons to all eternity, and be confined to 
their comparatively narrow limits, but on the contrary, 
without doubt there is not a moon in our solar system, 
but may go on and progress through the different 
changes, and arrive at the most exalted conditions 
during some period in the eternal ages of the future. 

Reason, common sense and all the analogies in the 
natural universe, conspire to support and establish the 
theory, and, we hesitate not to say, that it is the most 
natural and harmonious view of this subject, that has 
ever been presented for the consideration of the human 
mind. The old fossilized idea that an infinite personal 
intelligence spoke all things into existence from nothing, 
by the word of his power, and set the whole machinery 
of the universe at work by his fiat, in a single week, 
has become too absurd to be received by enlightened 
minds of the present day, unless they are still bound by 
the triple chains of an old and decaying theology. 

The Laplace or nebulous theory, is clumsy, unnatural, 
and open to a great number of grave and fatal objec- 
tions, and must eventually fall to the ground, by its 
own cumbrous weight; notwithstanding, it has received 
the endorsement of so many eminent men, since it was 
presented to the world of mind. This theory recog- 
nizes the rational idea that our solar system sustains 
the relations of one grand planetary family; that the 
sun is the great parent of all; and, that all this numer- 
ous family of children have proceeded, or been born of 
this parent; but they have come to the birth in a most 
singular manner. The peculiar method adopted by this 
positive or male parent of our solar system, by which 



INHERENT POWERS. 303 

his planetary children are brought to the birth in ac- 
cordance with this theory, is perfectly unique, and 
evidently at war with all the analogies found in the 
universe of nature. 

It presupposes that the sun was one huge mass of 
nebulous matter as large in diameter as the entire solar 
system, somewhat lens-shaped, and, that by some inex- 
plicable cause it acquired or received an axial motion. 
They say, the great activities of the exterior and equa- 
torial portions of this immense mass of gaseous material, 
naturally produced condensation of particles, and when 
this took place the more condensed exterior could not 
possibly cling to, and be held by the more rarefied inte- 
rior mass. Hence the vast parent orb in its earlier 
etherealized condition was subject to these periodical 
peelings, and in this manner, from time to time, gave 
birth to new planets, which formed themselves into such, 
by rolling or coiling up somewhat in the manner of a 
broad ribbon. 

The coiling operation was of course imparted by the 
axial motion of the original mass, and this movement 
was continued until the new planet was formed into a 
globe, and received the requisite impetus to move on- 
wards in its vast journeys, as well as to revolve upon its 
own axis. We discover, upon this hypothesis, that the 
new planet or young world, being in a more condensed 
condition than the parent, of course must be more 
evolved and consequently further advanced in point of 
development than the older one from which it proceeded. 
For very evidently condensation was a part of this pro- 
cess of evolution which all worlds must have passed 
through in order to arrive at the condition of solidity 



304 INHERENT POWERS. 

and materialization we find upon our earth, and which 
must necessarily exist upon all planetary bodies. 

Now, the young planet which was thrown or peeled 
off from the original gaseous body, being more con- 
densed than the parent, it might become difficult to 
subject this offshoot to the same peeling process, and 
hence the production of moons becomes quite problem- 
atical, and a doubt arises whether they could possibly 
be produced by any process recognized in connection 
with this theory. It might, however, be contended by 
its advocates, that matter was thrown off for the forma- 
tion of the young planets in an extremely rarefied con- 
dition. But we remark, if material for the new w T orlds 
was detached into rings in this very evanescent and 
gaseous condition, it is quite strange how the planet 
Uranus came to be located 1,200,000,000 miles within 
the orbit of Neptune, or that the great parent mass 
should have receded all that long distance, before it 
was prepared to throw off or give birth to another infant 
world. 

The very fact of any recession would prove conclu- 
sively, that condensation was one of the necessary con- 
ditions that must be attained by the great nebulous orb, 
before it could give birth to new or infantile planets; 
and, as a sequence, the infants must be in a condition 
far superior to the parent from whom they proceeded. 
For the parent must, during all this lengthy period, 
have been throwing off that portion of itself which was 
most advanced and unfolded, while the more rarefied or 
unelaborated portion remained; and while the exterior 
planets might have been developing up to a high state 
of unfoldment, the great central body must have re- 



INHERENT POWERS 305 

mained in a static condition. Or, in other words, no 
heavenly body could possibly have passed through any 
processes of unfoldment, while they were giving off ma- 
terial for the production of dependents or satellites; 
and hence, the sun could not, according to this theory, 
have commenced its own unfoldment, until it gave birth 
to Mercury, or until the last primary shall be thrown 
off, and it has completed this portion of its duties. 

Admitting this hypothesis to be correct, then all the 
primary planets must have remained in this gaseous 
condition until all the moons in our solar system were 
thrown off or came to the birth, and, of course, if any 
other moons should be constructed hereafter, they must 
accompany such planets as are in this rarefied condition. 
It follows then, that the earth can have no more moons, 
because the materials of which it is composed, are al- 
ready quite too much solidified, and, as far as our globe 
is concerned, the business of world building has come 
to a final close. It will also be perceived, that the 
grand and majestic Jupiter must either still remain in 
a gaseous, rarefied, undeveloped condition, or else this 
monster specimen of planetary architecture, must be 
content with a much smaller number of moons than 
have been vouchsafed to those that are quite inferior in 
point of size and importance. 

We think, however, that the absurdity of the nebu- 
lous or igneous theory will become obvious to the reader, 
not only from its unnaturalness, and inharmony, but 
from the utter impossibility of carrying out its clumsy 
details. Its incongruous method of bringing the infant 
worlds to the birth, is only exceeded in extravagance 
by filling them to the brim with incandescent molten 



306 INHERENT POWERS. 

lava after they are born and have attained maturity. 
We could wish that we had more time and space to 
devote to this very attractive and interesting subject 
of the development of worlds, from the lower negative 
conditions, to the higher magnetic state of those orbs 
that present themselves to the eye of the beholder, 
throughout the vast canopy of the sun-studded heavens. 
As, in all this vast array of stellar glory, among all this 
inconceivable twinkling display of revolving worlds, not 
one secondary or primary planet can be discovered by 
the unaided eye, if even with the most powerful lenses. 
For, all such are too small and in too crude and unde- 
veloped a condition, to come within the reach of the 
most piercing human vision; so, all that are beheld, 
except our few planetary neighbors, must have arrived 
to the exalted condition of our own luminous orb which 
is the great central magnet of this solar system. All 
are elaborated to the condition of suns, and doubtless 
many are the grand centers about which systems of 
fully unfolded suns are wheeling in their vast and in- 
comprehensible revolutions. 

How superlatively glorious and exhilarating the con- 
templation of even the small portion of the universe 
which we can grasp within the narrow range of our 
conception ! To behold such an infinite number of 
worlds and systems of worlds, all moving forward in 
harmonious order to a higher and still higher destiny, 
all working out their own advancement bv forces and 
elements inherent within themselves, all elaborating and 
unfolding to the most exalted condition, is sufficient 
to overwhelm the reflective mind with astonishment and 
reverential awe. But, how much more glorious and 



INHERENT POWERS. 807 

ennobling must be the contemplations of those minds, 
who entertain a firm conviction that all this innumerable 
host of worlds and systems have been produced by finite 
intelligent beings, who have passed through similar ex- 
periences with ourselves! Cheering and elevating in- 
deed must be the thought, that we too, who are now 
groping our way in comparative darkness through the 
mazes of this life, may yet arrive at the high position 
of those who have projected and launched forth worlds, 
that are now shining in all their regal splendor and 
magnificence. If the principles of eternal progress are 
admitted, this is no vague chimera, but an absolute 
living fact, that must necessarily take place in the order 
of universal nature. 

It is to be hoped, that at some future day, some mind 
that has ability, education and time, will seize upon the 
few ideas we have written upon this subject, and elabo- 
rate them in a systematic manner, eliminating the great 
facts and principles in nature's laboratory, that would 
support and establish a theory of the construction of 
worlds and systems, that would commend itself to the 
highest order of intelligent thinkers. Quite certain it 
is at the present, we have no theory which maintains in 
all its different phases, a harmonious interblending of 
all the great principles and analogies of nature. All 
those which have been presented by the philosophers 
of the past ages are, to a certain extent, vague and un- 
satisfactory, and leave the mind clouded by doubts and 
uncertainties. And we modestly venture an opinion 
that the view we have so briefly presented is less cum- 
bered with objectionable features than any which has 
yet come to the notice of the thinking world. 



CHAPTER X. 

WHO ARE THE WORLD BUILDERS? 

We met a fisherman one day, who, apparently, had 
recently wakened to the fact that there was much in 
this wor^d to be learned, and manifesting a desire to 
commence near the beginning, he directly inquired, 
"Who made God?" and we were compelled to confess 
our ignorance and entire inability to give him any in- 
formation upon that interesting subject. However 
much men may have talked of such a being, and told 
us concerning his divine attributes and characteristics, it 
may be very much doubted whether the wisest of them 
really know anything in regard to this infinite intelli- 
gence, about whom they are "so constantly and familiarly 
prating. They tell us what he likes, and what he dis- 
likes, what we must do in order to gratify and please 
him, and also what will be very offensive, and excite his 
anger and great displeasure. 

We are told he is self-existent, and the creator of all 
things, and hence there must have been a time, when 
nothing except him, had an existence; when he was all 
alone, a unit, in this vast universe. We are persuaded, 
however, not one of the wise men, who know, or pretend 
to know, so much of this being, could have given an 



WORLD BUILDERS. 309 

intelligent reply to our fisherman ; and we are also per- 
suaded that, if these wise men should compare notes, 
they would find that each one had a somewhat different 
view of this being, with whom they seem to be so 
familiar. 

The various sects evidently have diversified opinions 
in regard to his likes and dislikes, and his peculiar no- 
tions and preferences, as the forms and ceremonies 
introduced v in their worship would indicate. Surely the 
Catholic cannot entertain the same idea of his charac- 
teristics as the Presbyterian, for, if so, their worship 
would be the same. Neither can the Quaker, with his 
plain dress and simplicity in worship, hold the same 
views with his neighbor the Baptist, w 7 ho practices the 
hydropathic method of gaining his favor. We trust if 
we could carefully examine the mentalities of all the 
people who claim so much knowledge concerning this 
being, we should be led to conclude, there existed a 
profound ignorance upon the whole subject; and that 
each individual possessed a God of his own creation, in 
accordance with his own conceptions of greatness. 

If such a being could have existed as a unit, at a time 
previous to all other existences, either spiritual or mate 
rial, and before a single world had been created, then 
that being must certainly have been devoid of all expe- 
rience in regard to the creation of worlds, and the 
undertaking, to say the least, must have been an untried 
experiment, and the first wwld that was produced, must 
have been created without any previous experience in 
world building. We can very easily discover how an 
intelligent being, alone in the universe, could have been 
possessed of infinite wisdom and power, because, he 



310 WORLD BUILDERS. 

would have had all the wisdom and power there was in 
the whole, if the whole contained nothing but himself. 
But at the present time, when we find great multitudes 
of individuals in possession of given quantities of wisdom 
and power, it is extremely difficult to understand how 
one being can be so constituted as to possess it all. 

If the universal worlds are filled with individualized 
intelligences, and each one has in possession more or 
less wisdom and consequent power, and they have this 
belonging to themselves as identities, then how can it 
be said, that one single personal identity can possess all 
the wisdom and power which can possibly exist in all 
these universal realms? If it is acknowledged that 
globes or worlds are mechanical structures, and that it 
requires wisdom and power to produce them, and there 
are almost infinite hosts of intelligent beings who pos- 
sess a certain amount of the requisite qualifications, 
what then, the necessity or propriety of calling upon a 
single individual, however wise and powerful, to perform 
all the labor of building all the worlds in the vast uni- 
verse? For, if worlds are mechanical structures, and 
built from gross materials, there must be a great amount 
of intelligent labor to be performed by some living 
beings, in managing and directing the forces that may 
result in the orderly arrangement of all the materials 
of which a world is composed. 

"What can we reason, but from what we know?" 
But men have commenced at the other end, at what 
they did not know, or could not possibly comprehend, 
and reasoned from infinity downwards, and have found 
themselves in confusion, darkness and uncertainty. 
They have been compelled to assume that infinity exists 



WORLD BUILDERS. 311 

in a single personality, and then reason from the infinite 
identity, of which they could know nothing, backwards 
to those things of which they may form some rational 
conception by actual contact of the senses. And thus, 
they assume the existence of an eternal infinite being, 
whom they choose to call God, who, they say, by his 
omnipotent fiat, produced all things from nothing, and 
they are then out in the depths of an unknown sea, en- 
veloped in obscurity. For, there is not an intelligent 
living being upon the earth, or above the earth, who 
possesses the least substantial knowledge of that person- 
ality, who, they say, is the author and creator of all 
worlds with their various appurtenances. 

In this manner, they mix up natural forces with 
special powers, cause and eifect with supernatural in- 
terference, universal law with a God outside the uni- 
verse, who controls law to suit his own purposes, or in 
answer to the earnest petitions of some of his special 
favorites. Thus all is confusion and bewilderment, be- 
cause we cannot know where the natural leaves off, and 
the supernatural commences, and neither can we know 
how far nature extends, and when we shall get outside 
her boundaries, nor where or what we shall be, when we 
arrive at such a destination. 

Hence, in this condition, and with this view, it be- 
comes necessary for faith to take precedence of reason 
and knowledge, as all things have commenced, they 
now exist, and must ultimate, where reason and knowl- 
edge cannot extend. Thus faiths and beliefs came into 
requisition, as they can extend into all possible condi- 
tions, and they can be enjoyed largely, by the most 
ignorant, far more easily than by the learned. We are 



312 WORLD BUILDERS. 

doubtless to a very great extent, indebted to the various 
faiths and beliefs, for the bondage and darkness, that 
have overshadowed humanity in the past, and the same 
result must follow in the future, until substantial, pro- 
gressive knowledge takes precedence of blind and un- 
substantial beliefs. 

The human mind is entirely incapable of conceiving 
how any living sentient being can obtain wisdom without 
experience and observation, or unless he obtains it by 
the same processes, which all intelligent beings who 
have acquired knowledge, have necessarily passed 
through. A certain kind of knowledge, possessed by 
the highest spiritual intelligence of which we can enter- 
tain an idea, must be identically the same when under- 
stood by an ordinary mortal. The only difference there 
can possibly be in the two cases, is that, the one pos- 
sesses a larger fund of knowledge to draw from than 
the other, and consequently has become a superior 
being. 

A mathematical problem understood by a child, can 
be nothing more than such a problem, although it may 
be part of the wisdom of a spiritual intelligent being, 
far beyond any conceptions we are able to entertain 
concerning a God; and it must be admitted, that the 
power which can grasp and comprehend this problem, 
is of a similar character in both individuals. Then, we 
must conclude that the most exalted intelligent being 
must at some period in his history, have acquired the 
ability to understand the problem, in the same manner 
as the child; by the exercise of the mental powers. If 
a knowledge of any given subject, is the same in all 
portions of the universe, and all knowledge may be 



WORLD BUILDERS. 313 

found in one great treasure-house, then it follows, that 
mentality, or the power of grasping and comprehending 
knowledge, must be of the same character also, whether 
found in the school-boy, or the highest individualized 
spiritual existence. What can we say then, of the ex- 
alted living intelligence who has acquired the knowledge 
and consequent power to plan and superintend the con- 
struction of a World ? We must necessarily conclude 
that he arrived at the position, and acquired all he 
know r s, in precisely the same manner as the one who can 
only construct a watch ; by experience and observation. 

Paul found at Athens an altar inscribed to the "un 
known God;" and claimed that he could illuminate their 
minds concerning the invisible being whom they igno- 
rantly worshiped. But did he do so? He simply told 
them what their own poets had told them before, that 
in him we live, move and have our being, and that we 
are also his offspring. Thus he left the matter shrouded 
in the same darkness as he found it, and with all that 
his successors have ever written or said, it still remains 
inscribed upon the altar of every intelligent mind, " The 
unknown God." 

No higher idea of a God has ever been expressed in 
modern times by the most intellectual Christian, than 
was taught by a Grecian heathen. Parmenides, who 
lived before Plato, said, " Since, therefore, it was not 
generated, it is, and always was, and will be, and it is 
infinite, for it has neither beginning nor end." This 
was a part of his conception concerning the unknown 
being of which he knew quite as much as Paul, or Spur- 
geon, or Beecher. 

The human intelligence in its investigations can have 
27 



314 WORLD BUILDERS. 

little to do with that which is entirely beyond any con- 
ceptions it can entertain. It being entirely impossible 
for us then, to entertain any rational conception of what 
existed previous to the commencement of the eternities 
of the past, it would be worse than foolish to base any 
conclusions upon what we might possibly conjecture did 
exist. Any such conclusions would of course be utterly 
without foundation, and must ultimately fall of their 
own dead weight. 

We may expand our thought particles to their furthest 
tension, into the eternities of the past, yet we shall be 
quite unable to fathom or conceive of a beginning; much 
less, a period previous to the beginning of all things. 
But, on the contrary, we shall only be able to con- 
template a universe in active operation, with hosts of 
planetary bodies in the material realms, peopled with 
rudimental beings, and incalculable numbers of spirit 
individualities, actively engaged in their several duties; 
some assisting in the completion of worlds, and others 
pursuing enterprises of perhaps less importance. 

Suppose now, we come back nearer home, and base 
our conclusions upon foundations composed of those 
materials of which we may acquire some definite knowl- 
edge. Perhaps, we may discover some method by 
v>hich the exalted intelligent beings who are competent 
to plan and construct worlds, may be produced, in har- 
mony with laws that exist within the realms of the natu- 
ral universe. We may discover the great fact, that it 
would not absolutely require an infinite being to project 
and set in motion a world like ours. We think we are 
quite safe in the conclusion that spiritual entities exist, 
who have had a portion of their early discipline and 



WORLD BUILDERS. 315 

education upon globes no larger or better than the one 
we occupy, and who have become entirely accomplished 
in the stupendous art of world building, and possess the 
ability to project and execute an undertaking of that 
character most successfully. 

It is quite evident also, they may possess all the re- 
quisite qualifications without laying claims to infinite 
attributes, in any proper sense of the term; for, as we 
have said, a being who is infinite must possess all the 
attributes and characteristics of all the beings which 
exist. They must live within him, and if they are 
finitely bad, then he must be infinitely bad as well as 
good; because, all that is bad is contained within him, 
as well as what is good. He must be the infinite whole, 
hence, nothing can exist beside him, and all vile and 
abominable things must be a part and parcel of his infi- 
nite personality, as nothing but his personality can 
exist, if that is infinite. 

If all finite beings proceeded from, or are the children 
of an infinite personal father, then they must have in- 
herited all their characteristics and personal attributes 
from the father, and they of course can be nothing 
finitely, except he is the same in an infinite degree. 
Consequently, if a large portion of the inhabitants of 
the earth are heathen, barbarous, and savage, then he 
must be an infinite heathen, barbarian and savage, as 
well as infinitely good, powerful and wise. He must be 
infinitely antagonistic, as well as harmonious, and all 
wars and conflicts proceed from him, as well as all of 
peace and quietness, for all exist in him. In fact we 
find this infinite personal being rather more than most 
devout people have bargained for. 



316 WORLD BUILDERS. 

Now, if we cannot discover some means, by which 
such an infinite personality might be formed, we should 
have very good reason to doubt, whether he has an ex- 
istence; for, the human mind is incapable of entertain- 
ing any very rational idea of a being, unless he can first 
form some conception of a manner in which such a 
being might be produced, in accordance with laws and 
principles of which he has some knowledge. The time 
has come in the history of human research, when blind 
faith will hardly answer the purpose of thinking minds, 
when beliefs and tacit assents do not suffice. Conside- 
rate persons very properly ask a reason, and most as- 
suredly it is quite time for all who would improve, to 
keep within the bounds of their own reasoning concep- 
tions; for they can certainly gain nothing by going 
outside. Our mentalities can in no way be benefited or 
improved by going beyond our rational conceptions, 
taking things for granted, and adopting a blind faith 
unsupported by evidence. 

Doubtless all will admit men exist as intelligent 
beings, and that all they have in their organization, 
either of a physical or mental character, they must 
possess inherently within themselves, and all of this 
must have been aggregated or gathered from some 
source within the spiritual and material realms. It 
must be admitted also, that all beings possessed of 
spiritual organizations, must be similar in their natures 
and properties, whether the spirit is clothed with gross 
material, or that which is finer. As a sequence, then, 
if one spiritual being, capable of comprehending ideas, 
has existed from all eternity, all spirits endowed with 
such capabilities must be eternal also. For we discover, 



WORLD BUILDERS. 317 

the 6iie who cbmprehends a larger fund of ideas, is only 
more progressed and exalted, and has had more expe- 
rience under favorable conditions; give the others 
similar opportunities under similar conditions, and they 
may arrive at the same point of exaltation. 

There is evidently no intelligent being who is able to 
inform us of the method by which something may be 
made from nothing, because the human mind cannot 
possibly entertain any such conception. We are forced 
then, to conclude that every particle of matter which 
is now sufficiently gross in its character to be visible to 
us, had an eternal existence. If so, spiritual substances 
which are so much higher and finer must be eternal 
also; and, an eternal existence, as we have said, involves 
an eternal history, with an experience of the same 
duration. 

We find the spirits that exist in man, and are brought 
up to a state of development commensurate with such 
existence, are intimately connected with material organ- 
izations, and do not leave such organizations, until a 
dissolution of material particles commences, and many 
times not before much of the organism is wasted away. 
May not the same spirit have been connected with some 
material organism, during all its previous history, and 
passed out in a similar manner? Physically man seems 
to be a microcosm of the whole, and has in his organism 
a part of all organisms below him, that is, the material 
of his physical has been prepared for him by coming up 
through all the forms that are below; so that he is the 
grand culmination of all those inferior animal organiza- 
tions, and depends entirely upon the lower forms of 



318 WORLD BUILDERS. 

organic life for his existence, as well as continued 
sustenance. 

Suppose by the use of food, we incorporate into the 
physical structure the peculiar elements contained in 
the vegetable and animal kingdoms; and most people 
are in the habit of using more or less of this kind of 
food. In doing so, they swallow so much of the positive 
and neg'ative elements which existed in the mineral 
kingdom or in the earth, and which have been extracted 
for the use of vegetables and animals they have eaten, 
as well as for themselves. The vegetables and animals 
were composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitro- 
gen, together with all other elements needed to build up 
the human structure, and sustain life. If thev eat an 
egg they obtain vety nearly the same essences, served 
in a little different form. Give an individual the nice 
wheaten loaf and well-made butter, and life may be 
sustained by adding the needed amount of fluids. If 
so, those articles must contain the very elements that 
compose the human physical system. We should find 
in the wheat, silicon, carbonate of lime, magnesia, allu- 
mina, oxide of iron and manganese; in the butter, car- 
bon, oxygen and hydrogen, and if you add cheese, much 
the same elements. Those are precisely the essences 73r 
spiritual substances which exist in the earth in such 
profusion, and they are precisely what we require to 
sustain life. 

Yet we would not care to sit down to a repast of sili- 
con, carbonate of lime, nitrogen, etc., unless served up 
to us under their various disguises, to make them pala- 
table and attractive. We would not desire, either, to 
sit down to a dish of insects and worms, however nicely 



WORLD BUILBEES, 819 

they might be prepared, but we do sit down and relish 
with great gusto the broiled chicken or bird that has 
subsisted entirely upon worms and insects, and has 
incorporated them into the very flesh we are eating with 
so much satisfaction. We turn with disgust and loath- 
ing from the snake that crawls upon the earth, and the 
garbage that is thrown into the street, yet the pig seems 
to delight in them, and* devours them with no seeming 
repugnance, and we do not hesitate to eat the flesh that 
is partially composed of such materials. We convert 
the contents of our barn yards and privies into the 
vegetables produced in the fields and gardens, and par- 
take of the very elements in this form that were so dis- 
gusting in the other; and we may eat or drink what we 
please, we find we are only gathering some element that 
originally belonged to our great parent the earth. But, 
all the elements are purified and refined by passing 
through the various forms of organized life, and thus 
prepared to enter into, and form the component parts 
of this highest physical organism. 

It is a well-established fact that man has arrived at 
his present physical condition, upon the principle of re- 
production; then it follows, that he must have originated 
in the very lowest organism capable of performing that 
particular function. His origin, then, could not have 
been in the earliest vertebrate or the exceedingly dimin- 
ished living animalculse, but must have been with the 
most infinitesimal atom, and during the inconceivable 
millions of ages or eternities, he has come up to his 
present condition by natural processes, subject to the 
law of eternal progress. For, if some miraculous power 
has been connected with his experience or history, if 



820 WORLD BUILDERS. 

some supernatural forces have intervened, when could 
the miracle have come in ? at what period in the history 
of the race, was this remarkable supernatural interposi- 
tion of miraculous power introduced? If such power 
was necessary in the production of man, then why not 
in the production of all other forms of organic life, and 
all aggregations of atomic particles? So in that case, 
natural forces would have been entirely unnecessary. 

If the law of reproduction brings into existence 
animal and human organisms to-day, and it is an eter- 
nal law, which all must admit, then, we ask, when did 
the law of reproduction commence its operations? Be- 
ing like all other material or spiritual laws in its char- 
acter, it could have had no beginning, but has been 
continually operative wherever and whenever atomic 
particles have existed. And they have eternally ex- 
isted, positive and negative, male and female; and 
wherever two atoms have been united, this great law 
has been there to produce its result. Is there any 
difficulty, when you have the law, the elements, arid 
the material, to produce all the forms of organic life, 
from the lowest to the highest, without any miraculous 
interposition in the one case more than in another? 
But this subject has been treated upon extensively by 
numerous authors, and it is unnecessary for us to repro- 
duce their views, that prove most clearly, we came into 
our present condition in accordance with universal law, 
and inherit all our being, or physical organism, from 
the earth our parent. 

And now comes in the more difficult question of the 
spirit entity that is attached to the physical, and during 
life is inseparable. We notice that all aggregations 



WORLD BUILDERS. 321 

and particles of matter possess inherent properties, 
attributes, and constituent elements, as well as form, 
size, affinities, etc., and what are these but the spirit 
of the particles and aggregations? All atoms are 
either positive or negative, male or female, and hence 
they may affinitize; all atoms also being possessed of 
form, size, extension, and other attributes, we claim all 
these several characteristics to be connected with the 
spirit of the atoms, and this spirit having an existence, 
must continue forever; for whatever has an existence 
in the realms of nature, must continue, as you can no 
more return something to nothing, than create some- 
thing from nothing, 

If you pass the so-called inorganic atomic substances, 
and come up to the realms of organized living forms, as 
the animalcule and infusoria, you will find entities with 
still more apparent attributes and characteristics, they ' 
have life and locomotion, and are sensuous; they taste, 
see, hear, feel and smell, have desires, and fears, with 
combativeness and destruetiveness, and are to all intents 
individualized living entities, and are evidently pre- 
paring for a higher condition, and what should hinder 
their occupying this higher condition, in accordance 
with the immutable law of progress? If there had been 
no spirit in the animalcule, it would not have been a 
living organized being, with all the attributes we have 
found it to possess, and there can be no doubt but the 
spirit must have been developed, in the inorganic atom, 
and prepared to unite with the living organism, and in 
this condition is preparing for still further advancement 
and growth. When we learn that the spirit entities are 
the real existences, that are clothed with organic forms, 



322 WORLD BUILDERS. 

we shall find a key that ^vill unlock much that has been 
dark and mysterious in regard to the origin and multi- 
tudinous changes that have taken place in the lower 
forms of organic life. 

Darwin has labored through a volume, to show that 
so-called different species have been produced through 
all their variations, by natural selection and change of 
condition. But, had he discovered that each organized 
being had a spiritual entity, that was susceptible of 
change and growth, and that the spirit had power to 
modify the form of the living materialized being, he 
could have explained the phenomena of the origin and 
various transformations of the different species much 
more easily, and given a clearer explanation of the whole 
subject; because, upon this hypothesis we readily dis- 
cover how changes of visile forms must and will neces- 
sarily take place. The spirit in its upward progress 
necessarily demands a higher and better form for its 
residence, than it had previous, and nature provides 
means to satisfy that demand, in a superior being of the 
same species, or else it must advance to some form in a 
higher species. All spiritual entities being eternally 
progressive, there being no stand-still in the universe, 
must progress to a certain extent during their residence 
in any and every form of organic life they inhabit; 
hence, a form precisely the same as the one occupied 
previously, would not answer their purpose. We have 
noticed that spirit, being sublimated and finer, exerts 
power over grosser material; so, it must have aeon- 
trolling influence in modifying and changing the mate- 
rialized forms into which it enters, to adapt them to its 
improved condition. 



WORLD BUILDERS. 323 

In defining our position more clearly, we remark that 
we shall be forced to admit, that all material atoms 
must be attended by corresponding spirit entities, or, in 
fact, the atom is a spirit entity which may have gath- 
ered a materialized form around it; and further, it is 
an uncreated eternal existence. We know atoms exist, 
and we cannot conceive, that they were produced from 
nothing, by any power or principality above or outside 
of nature, and we can entertain no conception of any 
law within the natural realms, by which that result 
might be attained. We learn also, that certain aggre- 
gations of material atoms are endowed or accompanied 
by corresponding spirit entities, which fact is very gen- 
erally admitted; because the activities and attributes 
of the spirit individualities in the human form, are too 
palpable to be denied. The human spirit, if it is able 
to contemplate eternal entities, can much more easily 
comprehend the idea, that there might have been, from 
the eternal ages of the past, an infinite number of simple 
and homogeneous existences, than to grasp the thought, 
that there sprang into being, or that there was one 
single complex heterogeneous infinite self-existent per- 
sonality. It is far easier to conceive the idea, because 
it is more in harmony with natural principles, to con- 
clude the lesser existed first, and ultimated in the greater, 
than that the greater existed previously, and produced 
the lesser from nothing by his infinite power. The first 
conception is comparatively simple and natural, while 
the latter is marvelous and inexplicable, and its contem- 
plation leaves the mind in a state of utter confusion and 
darkness. 

We do not wish to assert that there is not such a 



324 WORLD BUILDERS. 

being, somewhere in existence, who exercises universal 
control, and who is capable of supervising all the univer- 
sal worlds; but we must think, it would be a hardship 
to place all those vast burdens upon his shoulders. A 
general supervision of all the machinery of all worlds 
would certainly require his constant and unremitting 
attention and care, while there must be infinite hosts 
of spiritual intelligences, who have come up through all 
the lower forms and conditions, and having had untold 
billions of ages of experience and observation in the 
realms of progressive knowledge, in which to acquire 
ability, ought to be abundantly competent to act in a 
thousand different capacities in the administration of the 
affairs of worlds and systems of worlds, and they all 
seem to be existing in a state of listless idleness. 

I hope we shall not be charged with irreverence, if we 
should express the opinion, that it would not require 
infinite intelligence and power, to construct and take 
the entire supervision of the affairs of the world we 
inhabit, because comparatively it is a small world, and 
evidently very inferior, in some respects, to others in 
our solar system. It has not the belts of Jupiter, or 
the rings of Saturn, or the light and heat dispensing 
power of the sun ; hence, we may conclude, that it would 
require a more extended knowledge to produce worlds 
with those several appurtenances; still we should be 
compelled to entertain the highest reverence and admi- 
ration for a being who was able to produce one like this, 
and supervise its affairs successfully; although we might 
conclude there were other heavenly bodies, very many 
thousand times larger, that would require still greater 
knowledge and experience to construct and manage. 



WORLD BUILDERS. 325 

Moses and Joshua, David, Daniel and Paul talk 
very familiarly of the God of Gods and Lord of Lords, 
and if they mean anything, they must mean, that the 
one God is higher, and exercises authority over the 
others; the same of the Lord, as the term is used 
indiscriminately to represent the same idea. The God 
referred to and spoken of by Moses so constantly, must 
be far from an infinite being, as the history is conclusive 
upon this point, and shows him to be deficient in very 
many respects. He made great blunders, and then, 
vain and unsuccessful attempts to remedy his mistakes. 
He done many things for which he manifested great 
sorrow and regret at a subsequent period, and he par- 
tially destroyed the results of his own labors. He could 
not have been the author and parent of the whole human 
race, for if so, he would have manifested the same pa- 
rental care and solicitude towards the whole, and treated 
all his children in a similar kind and fatherly manner, 
as any good, just and honorable father would be pleased 
to do. But we learn, this Hebrew God chose one people 
as his especial favorites and rejected the balance, treat- 
ing them with great unkindness and severity. He made 
use of his own chosen people to drive the rejected nations 
from their homes, destroy their property, deprive them 
of their liberties and lives; and, in some instances, to- 
tally annihilate all except the virgins, who were spared 
for the use of the soldiery. 

We perceive it would be impossible, taking all this 
history into consideration, to entertain a very exalted 
respect, for the God who is represented in its pages. So 
far from being infinite and entirely beyond a desire for 
earthly honors and earthly enjoyments, he prescribed 
28 



326 WORLD BUILDERS. 

minutely the forms of worship he preferred, and the 
numbers of beeves, and sheep, and birds with which he 
would like to regale his senses, and we must rise from 
the perusal of that history, with the conviction, that if 
there is an exalted being in this universe, all of whose 
attributes and perfections are infinite, then Moses and 
the fathers have not described him, neither could they 
have had any rational conception of such a spiritual 
personality. 

We notice, that we find certain material organisms 
we call human, possessed of spiritual entities, with pe- 
culiar and very numerous attributes, which we discover 
might exist independent of this particular form through 
which they now manifest themselves, and that such spirit 
entities only use their present forms, as a medium of 
manifestation and preparation for a more advanced con- 
dition of existence. One prominent reason why we say 
they are endowed with what is called imrriortality, is 
that they possess properties and attributes entirely dis- 
tinct, and not at all dependent upon the gross material 
particles composing their organisms; attributes that 
may as well exist in some other and higher condition. 
We clearly perceive that joy and sorrow, love and ha- 
tred, hope and fear, an ability to grasp thought, ideas 
and principles, and to discriminate between truth and 
erpr, are attributes of spiritual entities, and not of gross 
material forms, and we cannot doubt the continued ex- 
istence of those spirit individualities who have in pos- 
session, characteristics and endowments of so sublime a 
nature. 

We should look upon the author of our existence as 
extremely unjust and cruel, who could place within us, 



WORLD BUILDERS. 327 

fondly cherished aspirations and lofty hopes, and then 
cut us off in the morning of our history, without any 
realization of those bright visions, that he had brought 
so prominently to our view; and as no such injustice 
and cruelty can exist, then the spirit personality must 
live. It must also live because the numerous attributes 
it has in possession, of which the spirit is composed, are 
eternal and cannot die; and also, because it can cope 
with, grasp, and comprehend, and make its own, ever- 
living principles, and solve problems that have existed 
from all eternity, and will so continue. It will live be- 
cause it is a living entity, a something, and cannot be 
put outside of the realms of nature, and changed into 
nothing. 

If we look along down through the lower forms of 
organized life, we shall find some living entities who can 
safely lay claim to a portion of the same characteristics 
that exist in the human organism. We have learned, 
that a marked feature in the spirit individuality of the 
human, was the possession of attributes which distin- 
guish it from the grosser material, that may dissolve 
and fall into decay. The query now arises, with regard 
to the number of those attributes and endowments that 
might be required, to constitute a living spirit entity in 
the proper sense of the term. We shall find some hu- 
man beings who possess vastly more endowments and 
attributes, than some others; but, it will be admitted 
that the weakest men or women possess within them- 
selves undying spirits. Then we find, that the imper- 
ishability of spirits, does not depend upon the number 
of their endowments, but upon the fact that they are 
spirits, or individualized living entities with certain 



328 WORLD BUILDERS. 

attributes, they hold in common with the human race, 
however small may be the number of those attributes. 
If the number is small to-day, time, and the unchanging 
law of progress will necessarily carry all these spiritual 
entities to higher conditions. 

We think, if we carefully examine the natural history 
of the dog, his habits, customs, peculiarities, endow- 
ments and qualifications, we shall be compelled to 
admit, there is much in him perfectly analogous to the 
human. Does he not manifest strong affection for his 
friends, remarkable fidelity, and care, patience and 
watchfulness, concern for his master's interests, and 
wonderful sagacity? Has he not combativeness, des- 
tructiveness, inhabitiveness, cautiousness, and an organ- 
ized brain stored with various faculties, all ready to be 
called into activity, as occasion may require? Volumes 
might be filled with remarkable and very interesting 
incidents of canine sagacity, and faithfulness, and all 
these traits of character, they hold in common with 
man, and many of them are classed among the higher 
virtues, when exhibited in the human race. Some of 
these animals appear so noble, that we form very strong 
attachments for them, and are almost inclined to bow 
with respect when they enter our presence, and there 
can be no doubt very many of them possess spirits 
entirely too large and expanded for the forms they 
inhabit, that are only waiting to go forward upon their 
journeys. 

We call those same endowments immortal when they 
exist in man, and if so, why not in this lower organized 
being? We must conclude that the dog is possessed 
of mental or spiritual qualities and attributes. If so, 



WORLD BUILDERS. 329 

he must become an individualized spiritual entity. 
Such being the case, how can we say, this entity has 
not been prepared to enter this condition by passing 
through all forms and organizations below him. If we 
are driven to the conclusion, that the dog has within 
him, a living spirit entity because we see in him quali- 
ties and characteristics, distinct from his material form, 
and perfectly analogous to those in man, then we shall 
be forced to admit the same of all forms and organiza- 
tions below the dog, both in the organic and inorganic 
realms. Suppose we examine a grain of sand, we find 
about one-half silicon, the other oxygen. It has form, 
extension, and qualities that are independent of the 
material, and though it has fewer attributes, it has suffi- 
cient to make it a spiritual entity, as well as a material 
form, as we see the silicon is the visible materialized 
portion, while the oxygen is a part of the invisible 
spiritual entity that exists in this particle of matter, 
and which has become an individualized entity, and 
must remain so when the silicon is dissolved. This 
spiritualized entity may change its form and progress, 
but it can by no means be expelled from the universe or 
changed to nothing. 

If we admit that there must be spirit entities in any 
form of organic life below man, because we find them 
possessing a sensuous nature, with organs, faculties, and 
all attributes the same as man, then where shall we find 
the line that marks the boundaries, or the line of divis- 
ion upon which we may stand, and say, upon this side 
all forms have living spirit entities, upon that side they 
are destitute of such properties or attributes. Eternal 
progress must be an unmeaning term, else we shall be 



330 WORLD BUILDERS, 

driven, without the least possibility of escape, to admit 
that the infinitesimal atom is possessed of a spirit entity 
that cannot die, but must rise through all the grada- 
tions and successions of aggregations and organic forms, 
unfolding and taking on at each step in its journey, 
until it ascends through the entire scale, to the highest 
condition of which the human mind can entertain a 
conception. We must adopt this idea, or abandon all 
idea of progressive existence, for, if we have progressed 
up to a given point, where could that progression have 
commenced, unless at the lowest? and, if we are to pro- 
gress in the future, where can we terminate, but at the 
highest? if we can have any proper conception of the 
highest, or the ultimate of all progression. 

Then, what can be required in order to produce 
worlds in accordance with eternal laws and principles 
existing within the boundaries of nature's realms? We 
answer, that we must have progressed, intelligent 
beings, who are able to bring to bear and manipulate 
the requisite forces, by which the atoms and corres- 
ponding spirit entities may be moulded into their million 
different forms, with sufficient time for the necessary 
evolutions. With these conditions, there can be no 
need of introducing a single miraculous interposition 
during the entire process, but, all may be accomplished, 
from their inception to their comparative maturity, in 
strict conformity with universal laws. But, we are 
asked, how all these things could have existed without 
being preceded by an infinite God? and we ask in re- 
turn, how the supreme infinite God could have existed 
unless preceded by all those lesser things? and it is quite 



WORLD BUILDEBS, 831 

proper to inquire which theory concerning this matter is 
best sustained by universal facts and philosophy? 

Now, what fact is there^ that clearly proves that a 
personality does now or ever did exist, who holds in his 
individual possession, all wisdom and all power? Not 
one; for we clearly perceive that those attributes are 
subdivided among untold millions of intelligences, and 
it follows that one single being cannot possess all that 
is so extensively divided. We are told that it would 
require infinite intelligence to produce all worlds. That 
might be so, but there is no proof, and far from any 
probability, that one being did produce all worlds; there 
was certainly no necessity, for, there must have existed 
plenty of intelligences who knew bow to build worlds 
from as remote a period, as can be conceived of by the 
human mind. Should we look all over the broad uni- 
verse for a fact which would sustain the hypothesis, that 
Such an infinite being sprang into existence, possessing 
all knowledge and power, without previous experience, 
who framed and enacted all the multitudinous laws by 
which nature is governed, in its various departments, 
who produced from nothing the atomic particles, out of 
which the globes are composed, we shall find no such 
fact, and surely all the analogies in the natural universe 
are in direct opposition to any such idea. 

We do not wish by any means to deprive our friends, 
who stand in need of such a being, of their long-cher- 
ished idea of an infinite personal God, whom they have 
been honestly endeavoring to adore and worship with 
becoming reverence. But we say, without fear -of suc- 
cessful contradiction, that if they ever really find the 
being whom they- have vainly imagined, they must find 



332 WORLD BUILDERS. 

him outside the realms of universal nature, in some 
imaginary domain which they will scarcely reach during 
all the eternities of the fifture, because nature embraces 
all there is, or ever will be in the material or spiritual 
worlds. Infinity means all of all things in the broadest 
sense of the term; so, it is absolutely impossible for one 
personality, whether it may be in unity or trinity, to 
possess and comprehend all, while other individual enti- 
ties possess anything. If they have power to move a 
hand, that power belongs to them, together with all 
other forces inherent in their individualities. 

When Jesus said to his disciples (if he said it), that 
"all power was given him, in heaven and upon the 
earth, it was a terrible exaggeration, or else a simple 
mistake; for, take the literal history of this person in 
its broadest sense, and there is not a particle of evidence 
to prove the fact, that he was in possession of all power, 
either before or after his death. The history establishes 
conclusively, that he possessed but a limited amount of 
power, or that he, like others, was subjected to the 
control of law administered by higher powers. He 
certainly did not possess the power of the Jewish San- 
hedrim, or the authority that Pilate received from the 
government at Rome. If he had, he certainly would 
not have perished upon the cross an unwilling victim 
of Jewish hatred and prejudice. He surely would not 
have erected a cross for himself, and nailed his hands 
and feet to its timbers, or provided any other means for 
such a death; for, then he would have been a suicide. 
He died, then, by a power and authority over which he 
exercised no control; and he evidently did not acqui- 
esce in the arrangement, for if so, why was he agitated 



WORLD BUILDERS. 333 

in such a manner as to sweat so profusely, "like great 
drops of blood running down to the earth?" Why did 
he pray so earnestly, saying, "If possible, let this cup 
pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou 
wilt?" showing conclusively it was not his will to die, 
and that he only manifested that resignation, which 
thousands of others, both before and after, have evinced 
in their trying moments. He, like the others, submitted 
to a fate which could not be averted by any power they 
could bring to bear. 

All of his doings that are any way marvelous, are 
said to have been performed independent of, or in oppo- 
sition to, natural laws; but what wonderful thing did he 
do, or could he have done, inside of the domain of na- 
ture? So far from having all power, he had not the 
least power or influence in any one of the civil govern- 
ments then in existence. Does any one pretend that he 
possessed wisdom or power sufficient to superintend the 
construction of worlds, or that he could have supervised 
the building of a moon upon correct mechanical prin- 
ciples? We doubt much whether the most ardent Trini- 
tarian ever conceived any such idea, or that he could 
even now, with all his additional experience, be compe- 
tent to act in any such capacity, or perform any labor 
of that character. We are quite sure he never said he 
could, and he never during his earth history, accom- 
plished anything which would indicate that he possessed 
powers and abilities sufficient to have contrived and 
built a solar system, with all its complicated machinery; 
and that, would have been but a trifle compared to the 
whole. The power required to project and set in mo- 
tion all the untold number of solar systems in the broad 



334 WORLD BUILDERS. 

universal domain, would stretch infinitely beyond what 
would be required to produce the single system attached 
to our central sun. 

Then how senseless and ridiculous has it been, through 
all the long ages, to deify this simple, unpretentious 
individual, and endow him with infinite wisdom and 
power, who never manifested sufficient ability to con- 
struct, and give life to the least insect, or animal organi- 
zation, and who never made any pretensions to any 
knowledge of the original universal laws and principles 
which must be so prominent a portion of the wisdom of 
a God! 

If infinity means all, it comprehends all there is of 
matter and spirit, of laws and forces, of space and time, 
of positives and negatives, of male and female, of life 
and death, and individual and collective forms, and if 
there is such a personality who embraces all these things, 
then all are absorbed and swallowed up in this infinite 
being, and the idea of infinite hosts of personal individ- 
ualities, is a myth and a delusion, and not to be enter- 
tained. Again, if there is an infinitely omnipresent 
personality, who fills alike the immensity of space, then 
there can be nothing in space but that omnipresent per- 
son, else space, would be more than filled, which cannot 
be, and if this infinite being possesses all the knowledge 
in the vast universe, and all other infinite perfections, 
and has so possessed them from all eternity, then he is 
evidently devoid of some attributes and qualities of an 
essential character, enjoyed by lower spirit personalities. 
Because, with him there could be no change, and conse- 
quently he has no enlivening hopes or bright aspirations 
which may reach into the future, and the eternities of 



WORLD BUILDERS. 3B5 

that future must roll on with him, in one dull, monoto- 
nous round eternally, destitute of the cheering expect- 
ations that animate the souls of all intelligences through- 
out the earthly and spiritual spheres. There can be no 
such thing as an unchangeable being, no matter how 
exalted he may be. Every day's experience must pro- 
duce some change. The great universe moves onward 
in its ample rounds. It is not to-day precisely as it 
was yesterday, and something will be added to-morrow. 
Unchangeability is death, because it is a cessation of 
activity; where there is life there must be change, and 
when any positive living entity is prepared to live with- 
out change, he becomes negative, goes down into Belis- 
ma, and there rests till he is ready to rise and go forward 
in the ever-changing history of all living intelligences, 
high or low. 

Then let us come back within nature's domain, where 
we shall find all the materials and forces requisite to pro- 
duce the mechanics who can construct all the worlds that 
are necessary to be built, without miracle or supernatu- 
ral or unnatural means. Why are men so willing to go 
outside for power to produce what they behold, when 
they are so unacquainted with the thousand laws and 
forces inside of nature's realms ? Evidently, because it 
has been much more easy to imagine a miracle, than to 
open and peruse understandingly nature's great volume; 
again, the so-called sacred writings, which talk so freely 
about miracles, and seem to ignore philosophical and 
natural deductions, have been thrust upon the masses as 
the only true guide to eternal truth. But, however 
much our great mother may have been ignored, she has 
existed, and has been, with her silent processes, work- 



836 WORLD BUILDERS. 

ing all tbe time that men have been disregarding her 
teachings, and she has provided infinite atoms, and 
spirit entities, that are working and toiling their way 
upwards, as we have already shown, and the requisite 
laws have eternally existed, by which they may rise from 
the lowest possible condition up to the highest, constantly 
ascending by the means provided. 

Mark, now, we do not say man has been an ape, or a 
dog, or the moss upon the rock, but we do say that our 
spirit entities have progressed from a lower condition, 
and if so, in that low r er condition they might have been 
w T ell adapted to occupy the physical form of the ape. 
But then, it was not man ; it was a part of the same 
living entity less developed, and of course not then in a 
condition to exist in man, so that man could not have 
been a chimpanzee or anything lower, although the 
living spirit within him might have traveled upwards 
through that common highway; it might during its pro- 
gressive history, have passed through those conditions. 

The fact seems pretty well established, that we have 
some forty different faculties of mind, and about the 
same number of organs, and that we possess many of 
them in common with the lower forms of organic beings. 
Some of the faculties or organs may evidently come up 
to us well developed or fully rounded out, from their 
experience and expansion in the lower organisms; for 
instance, combativeness and destructiveness surely find 
quite as favorable a field for their active exercise and 
development in many of the animal species as they do 
in the human, and we must admit, they are identical in 
both. We look out upon the face of human society, and 
find multitudes of people who have evidently brought 



WORLD BUILDERS. 837 

very much of the animal with them, for they exhibit 
traits of character that are far below, rather than above 
some of the animal race, and prove too clearly from 
whence they came, and what is their inheritance. 

Doubtless if we were the immediate offspring of a 
perfect being, we should inherit all the characteristics 
of that good and perfect being, and that we should be 
comparatively good and amiable, just and upright, and 
we could have no bad propensities, no combativeness, 
no destructiveness, nor any evil passions; because we 
could not possibly have inherent in our natures anything 
we did not receive from the parent, as all our compo- 
nent elements would have come from him, and conse- 
quently we should be like him, good, just and holy. 
As we discover we are full of all manner of so-called 
uncleanness, evil passions and propensities, we must 
conclude we came from the other direction, and are 
gradually unfolding to a higher state and condition; 
and as we are very evidently progressing, there need 
be no apprehensions, but sufficient experience will bring 
us to that more advanced and improved condition, that 
is entirely commensurate, with our highest aspirations. 

Yet the affairs of our world, from its earliest history, 
must have been under the supervision of intelligence. 
But, we must conclude, it was an intelligence which was 
acquired in accordance with the general law governing 
such matters; that it was obtained by experience and 
observation, the supervisors having passed through all 
conditions below. Hence they had become qualified to 
understand all those conditions, and all laws appertain- 
ing to all the organizations through which they have 
passed, from the most diminutive atom up to their ex- 
29 



338 WORLD BUILDERS. 

alted and gloriously supernal heights, and depths, and 
lengths, and breadths of knowledge and power, that 
enabled them to undertake and successfully accomplish 
the wonderful project of constructing and managing 
the affairs of a world. 

Suppose now, it becomes necessary and proper, that 
our earth should be accompanied in her long and tedious 
journeys, with a second moon ; where do we expect to 
find intelligent beings that would be competent to under- 
take its construction ? Is there a doubt but we have 
within the limits of the spiritual spheres, immediately 
attached to our world, hosts of living spirits, who have 
made this matter their especial study, and who are 
abundantly able to take a world in pieces, and re-adjust 
it again, in all its parts, with the utmost precision and 
correctness. Or even, if our world's spirit spheres do 
not produce those that have sufficient age and experi- 
ence, there are plentyof other worlds, and other spheres,* 
that must have existed immense cycles of ages longer 
than our own. We cannot apprehend any serious 
trouble in obtaining the necessary skill and wisdom to 
superintend such a structure, among the untold millions 
of spiritual spheres. However, there can be little 
doubt but all the needed ability may be found at home. 

Suppose we reduce the world to the age of the Mosaic 
history, and allow an intelligent person five thousand 
years in which to obtain a knowledge of the forces and 
materials found in nature's realms, and the multiplicity 
of laws governing the various departments. That would 
be equal to 500 collegiate terms of ten years each, and 
taking into consideration the superior advantages that 
pirit intelligences must possess over feeble mortals, as 



WORLD BUILDERS. 339 

they can see, and handle, and thus become familiar with 
those spiritual essences and sublimated materials of 
which we can only learn from a careful observation of 
their effects. Even that length of time, or a far shorter 
period, would be amply sufficient in which to acquire all 
the knowledge and experience necessary to render an 
intelligent person competent to superintend the construc- 
tion of a satellite or moon, which some time might ulti- 
mate in a planet, or even a sun. He might have spent 
the first 2,000 years in obtaining a theoretical knowledge 
of all the sciences requisite to be understood, and then 
the other 3,000 in a practical application of this acquired 
knowledge as an assisstant in the mechanical department 
of any of the numerous worlds, that are constantly being 
constructed in every portion of the great universe. For, 
upon no principle of philosophy or common sense, can 
we suppose, that all this immense and inconceivable host 
of planetary bodies were constructed simultaneously, 
but, on the contrary, that they have been produced at 
various intervals, from the remotest eternities of the 
past, and that the business of world building will con- 
tinue, as long as there is space to occupy, and materials 
and forces that can be brought to bear, and all these 
must be as endless and inexhaustible, as the eternities 
of the future. 

Dr. Dick remarked, that "80,000,000 of heavenly 
bodies had been discovered with the telescopes then in 
use, and that each one of them represented a solar sys- 
tem, and were, consequently, suns around which planets 
and satellites revolved. " Supposing each system might; 
have thirty planets and satellites, it would be 2,400,- 
000,000 planetary worlds within the reach of telescopic 



340 WORLD BUILDERS. 

vision at that age. Since Dr. Dick wrote the above, 
one planet with her moons, and many asteroids have 
been discovered in our system, and some astronomers 
swell the number of worlds within the reach of telescopic 
vision, to 20,000,000,000. From the fact, that, as lenses 
of greater power are produced and applied, they serve 
to reveal new glories and wonders, and increasing num- 
bers of worlds, we must suppose, that the immensity of 
space has by no means been discovered, in all its ampli- 
tude, by any instruments of man's invention, and that, 
let us extend to the farthest stretch of our limits, it 
would be but a drop to the vast ocean of planetary 
existence. All this infinite number of worlds must have 
been constructed by skilled workmen, during the eternal 
ages of the past, and still the work goes on, and must, 
during the eternities of the future, else there will be no 
farther use for certain elements that exist in our spiritual 
nature, and for want of the needed activity, those elements 
would die. 

Can we suppose constructiveness, a prominent attri- 
bute in man's organization, is only to be used during 
his material residence upon the earth, in this rudimental 
and preparatory condition? This organ has evidently 
been developing to a remarkable extent in the lower 
animal races; the bee builds its cells with curious me- 
chanical precision, and they are most admirably adapted 
to the purpose designed. The beaver erects his dam 
with wonderful engineering skill, and makes a barrier 
across the stream capable of resisting the influences of 
the largest flood. The birds construct their nests in a 
great variety of ways, and in exact accordance with 
their several necessities. Shall the development of this 



WOELD BUILD1ES, 841 

important faculty cease with man's material existence, or 
is it being disciplined for higher and nobler purposes in 
the spiritual realms ? If so, then we may find an ample 
field for its exercise, upon a broader and grander scale 
than most minds have contemplated, or could possibly 
conceive, under the old teachings ; for under them, no 
such high and majestic exercise of our faculties awaited 
us in the interminable ages of the future. The Doctor 
referred to, says that, "arithmetic, mathematics, geome- 
try, astronomy and chemistry, and all the long catalogue 
of known and unknown sciences* will be interesting 
subjects of study in the future realms, because they will 
enable us to better understand the beauties and glories 
of creation, and necessarily inspire us with a higher 
reverence for the almighty Creator." He evidently 
saw that such like scientific acquirements must be a part 
of the knowledge of an infinite God, and, that it would 
be necessary for us to acquire knowledge of the same 
character also, before we should be able to come to an 
understanding and appreciation of such a being. But, 
we discover now, a higher object in view, a more prac- 
tical purpose, and nobler ends to be attained, by the 
acquisition of scientific attainments in the spiritual state 
of existence; and one of those ends is, that we may aid 
in promoting and carrying forward the great business 
of building up and adorning, as well as adding planetary 
bodies to the great universe. 

For we clearly see, if the universe is composed of 
planetary bodies, so inconceivable in numbers, and also 
in variety, and they have all been constructed upon 
mechanical principles, it must have required, during the 
eternities of the past, infinite hosts of mechanics, to have 



342 WORLD BUILDERS. 

performed all this overwhelmingly vast amount of labor. 
There is not shadow of doubt but the moon, which is a 
constant attendant upon the annual journeys of the 
earth in its orbit, was formed long since the earth. The 
nebulous theory contemplates the same idea, and all 
astronomical discoveries would support the uninhabit- 
able and comparatively crude condition of all things 
upon that orb. Then it doubtless must have been pro- 
jected and formed as an appendage to our world, after 
the globe had become sufficiently advanced to require 
the services of such a satellite. It certainly did not 
build itself, and it would not have been built if some 
intelligent being had not concluded it was necessary 
and important. 

Who, then, could have been so much interested in 
that matter, as those living within our spirit spheres? 
Those living within the spheres of Jupiter, have built 
four of their own, and those attached to Saturn have 
constructed eight, besides the two rings. They have 
certainly had sufficient to attend to, in managing their 
own affairs, and Uranus, with its six or eight satellites, 
must have given sufficient employment to the spiritual 
mechanics that have found an existence there, without 
coming to do our labors. Our moon evidently would 
not have been built, unless for a purpose, and doubtless 
it was constructed by mechanics, in accordance with a 
preconceived plan, or form that must have had a mul- 
tiplicity of details, which were to be adhered to and 
carried out in all the processes of building, from its 
commencement until it was so far completed that it 
would require less attention ; for, it is very doubtful if 



WORLD BUILDERS. 343 

the human mind is capable of contemplating the entire 
completion of any of the heavenly bodies. 

Like all other events in history, there must have been 
a time in the history of universal world building, when 
it became necessary that our globe should be provided 
with a lunar companion, or we may say offspring; and 
there must have been great abundance of intelligent 
beings who were competent to understand that fact, as 
there was a time arrived when it was necessary that a 
steamship line should be established between San Fran- 
cisco and China. When that occurred, there were great 
numbers who understood the necessity, and some were 
found who had the ability to construct or procure the 
vessels suitable to place upon the line, and although it 
was a project involving vast expense, enterprise and 
knowledge, we were not compelled to call upon the gods, 
or even go outside of America, to obtain the men, the 
means and requisite skill. So, when it is found that 
any of our planets need attendants, it will probably not 
be necessary to import from any distant orb, the ability 
requisite to construct them in accordance with correct 
principles, and to manage them successfully after they 
are so constructed. 

It was, no doubt, well understood, previous to the gla- 
cial or drift period, that when all that vast amount of 
ice and water, which had accumulated upon our globe, 
had subserved their purposes, it would be necessary to 
remove the ice fields, and large quantities of water, so 
that fruitful fields and cheerful homes, and a busy pop- 
ulation might exist where once was nothing but wide- 
spread desolation. They also understood that by the 
formation of a satellite, they could withdraw a large 



'844 WORLD BUILDERS. 

portion of our surplus electricity for the use of the 
infant orb, and thus start a young world and benefit the 
old one by the operation. Hence an immense extent 
of territory that was cold and frozen, has been filled 
with the busy haunts of life. The new or young world 
required negative elements in its formation, and we, 
having a superabundance, required a place for their 
disposal, and thus a satellite of our earth has been con- 
structed to subserve our present purposes, which in the 
ages to come may ultimate also, as the parent of a 
numerous retinue. 

The time has no doubt arrived in the present epoch 
of the history of the universe, when our globe has accu- 
mulated a redundancy of the electric elements in the 
shape of glacial formations and extensive ice fields, 
which exert a chilling influence upon the atmosphere 
of the arctic regions, and to a great distance from those 
icy zones, and the increasing population of the world 
requires that those elements should be gradually re- 
moved, and give place to a greater extension of habit- 
able territory. So the intelligences of the spheres that 
have a perfect understanding of this matter, are engaged 
at the present time, in constructing another lunar world 
to bear us company in our future. This will add one 
more to the number of heavenly bodies in our solar sys- 
tem, and one to that infinite number that is compre- 
hended in the vast universal realms. 

It is said with much assurance, that unless all the 
planetary bodies had been contrived and formed by one 
architect, there would have necessarily been a clashing, 
and general disturbances in the various parts of creation. 
But, we might say, with equal propriety, unless all the 



WORLD BUILDERS. 345 

steamships had been constructed by one master me- 
chanic, there would be clashing and disturbances; the 
cases are perfectly analogous, there is quite as much 
room for each separate world to navigate within their 
respective solar systems, as there is for the different 
steamers to navigate our largest oceans. It is well un- 
derstood, in the construction of steamships, that certain 
laws must be complied with, if they expect to run them 
successfully, and those laws are universal, and when 
understood and kept in view, there is no difficulty in 
constructing the boat, if the necessary forces and mate- 
rials can be brought to bear. So, in the construction 
of satellites or planets, there are also universal laws to 
be complied with, and these, necessarily, must be under- 
stood and applied, in all their details, and then, there 
can be no difficulty, and unless they are built in con- 
formity with universal laws, they must be failures, the 
same as would be the steamships. But, where there is 
a necessity for producing a world, and a sufficient 
amount of knowledge to control the required forces, and 
plenty of materials, with the requisite number of work- 
men, what is there to hinder building a world, as well as 
a steamship, or any other mechanical structure? What 
hinders the accomplishment of this grand object, by a 
great diversity of intelligent beings; providing, they 
have sufficient knowledge and power? 

Why the great anxiety upon the part of so many 
good and eminent men, that one personal, individualized 
intelligence, they call God, should build all the worlds, 
and retain the entire control and management of them 
to all eternity? Is it a special mark of goodness, vir- 
tue, morality, or integrity, to hold this idea? which is 



346 v, ;r,LD builders. 

but a bare assumption, and cannot be supported by a 
single fact or any of the analogies in nature. We are 
fully of the opinion, if the great truth of progressive 
intelligence should dawn upon our world to-day. and the 
masses should come to view this matter with illuminated 
visions, and discover that all intelligences had come from 
the lowest, and were upon their progressive journey to 
the highest condition; and that all would at some day 
be prepared with wisdom and power to engage in the 
most exalted enterprises of which the human mind can 
form any conception, virtue and morality would by no 
means suffer. 

On the contrarv, the higher attributes of man's nature 
would be brought more prominently to view, and human 
society would be greatly improved, by divesting the 
mind of those cringing, servile, and abject ideas, con- 
nected with the teachings of the past. How elevating 
and inspiring the contemplation, that at some period in 
the future we may rise to the most super-eminent con- 
dition, and notwithstanding our ignorance and feeble- 
ness at the present, we have that within our own indi- 
vidualities, which by expansion and growth may enable 
us to engage in the most exalted occupations; even those 
we have been wont to think, required the wisdom and 
power of a God to accomplish. We are apprehensive 
that a firm conviction of this rational idea, deeply im- 
pressed upon the minds of the lowly and uncultivated 
would do more to raise their aspirations from debasing 
and groveling objects, than all the various gospels that 
have been thundered in their ears from the earliest 
period of man's history. But our purpose is not to 



WORLD BUILDERS. 347 

present the moral view of this subject, we only desire to 
find the truth, the moral aspect will take care of itself. 

Our astronomers have been troubled, during all their 
past researches, to find the motive power which impels 
the various globes in their orbits, and upon their several 
axes, and, says Dr. Dick, "It would be easy to show, 
that unless an immaterial power continually re-excited 
motion in the material universe, all motion would stop 
in a very short time, perhaps in less than an hour, 
except, the planets themselves would run out in right- 
lined directions, and then nothing would ensue but con- 
fusion, darkness and chaos ; then, a presiding divinity is 
continually exerting his attributes, impressing every 
part of the universe to which he gave existence. " Now 
we see, if he expresses the general view upon the sub- 
ject, and no doubt he does, that in addition to the 
immense labor of constructing all these worlds from 
time to time, as they were required in all the various 
portions of the universal domain, this power must be 
compelled to turn all the cranks, or apply continuously 
the momentum that sends all the untold billions of plan- 
etary bodies with such tremendous velocity through the 
regions of space; also, attend to all the diurnal revolu- 
tions, and all other phenomena that takes place upon 
the separate orbs. It is little wonder that, with all these 
arduous and unremitting labors, he became wearied and 
exhausted, and needed rest after the six days' work 
required to complete the little world we inhabit. 

There are several difficulties about this theory which 
our philosophers have not seemed to discover. One is, 
they have subjected to unremitting labor and care, with- 
out a moment's cessation, from eternity to eternity, the 



348 WORLD BUILDERS. 

very being, of all others, upon whom they should confer 
tranquility and repose. They have appointed him to 
perform the very arduous and continuous duties, that 
might just as well have been done by some finite enti- 
ties; while they have left the lower intelligences in 
eternal repose, and without employment. Another 
more serious difficulty is, they have overlooked the great 
fact, that any skilled mechanic is abundantly qualified to 
contrive motive power and place it within those struc- 
tures which are to perform journeys; they are also able 
to construct an apparatus that will generate forces pro- 
ductive of the required momentum, not only for its own 
propulsion, but which is able to perform an immense 
amount of additional labor. Then, if the globe we in- 
habit, and the others we behold, are moving bodies, we 
cannot certainly entertain a very exalted opinion of the 
intelligent being, who w^ould construct them without the 
motive power. If our world is designed to travel through 
space with such velocity, w T hy did he not arrange the 
machine so that it would generate its own forces, and 
not be compelled to " re-excite motion," or run the thing 
by hand to all eternity, lest it go off the track and run 
into " confusion, darkness and chaos." 

How can they suppose for a moment, that an infi- 
nitely wise being would subject himself to such incon- 
venience and uninterrupted toil, while there are plenty 
of finite and even earthly beings, who do so much better, 
by making very complicated machines and placing the 
required power within them, that will do the necessary 
labor. If they cannot conceive of an infinite intelli- 
gence who can turn off a better job, it would be far 
preferable to trust this world building to finito beings 



WORLD BUILDERS. 349 

who have served an apprenticeship, who have come up 
through all, from the lowest atom, and consequently had 
an experience that would prepare them for such an enter- 
prise. They would doubtless construct globes with the 
motive power which furnishes the needed propulsion, 
inherently attached in its proper position. They would 
also provide the necessary safeguards which would 
entirely prevent any possibility of running off the tracks 
on which the globes are running, independent of gravity 
or centrifugal forces. 

The materialist must admit, that, if globes are mechan- 
ical structures, and built by the use of forces and mate- 
rials, there must be some intelligent control of the forces 
that exert an influence over the materials of which the 
globes are composed. If there is an intelligent control 
of forces, that intelligence must exist in individualized 
beings, and they of course must occupy a position in the 
spiritual realms, for no gross material being can possibly 
engage in any such enterprise. One planet cannot be 
built upon another, and launched like a ship into the 
depths of space, but they must be constructed out in 
mid ether, and as material beings cannot well get there 
to assist, the mechanism must be performed by those 
who can travel in the ethereal regions, and perform 
their labors out in the spacious firmament. Therefore, 
they who commence and carry out so grand a project 
must be spiritual in their nature. We have never heard 
of an intelligence clothed in a gross physical garb, not 
excepting Jesus, who could make so much as a mosquito 
or the most diminutive insect, for how could they see the 
fine material from which their various organs must be 
produced? 

30 



350 WORLD BUILDERS. 

The contestants who have heretofore engaged in the 
long-existing warfare between old theology and modern 
science have been very anxious to decide whether an 
infinite God, entirely outside the domain of nature, who 
was self-existent and supernatural, with self-constituted 
infinite powers, had spokefi all things into existence 
from nothing, and had taken the supervision and man- 
agement of all things in some supernatural manner, or 
whether unchangeable law has ultimated in the produc- 
tion of all visible objects, and in the control of those 
objects after they are so produced and brought into 
existence. Both parties have equally ignored the idea 
that finite spirit intelligences could have anything to do 
in the production or the management of either inorganic 
or animated nature, or that they could possibly exert 
their powers and faculties to advantage in any con- 
structive department of the universe. 

Theology inaugurated a general fight with scien.ce, 
until it was found that science carried too many guns, 
and that her batteries could by no means be silenced, 
as her armament was constantly being strengthened by 
new and valuable discoveries. A portion of the belli- 
gerents seemed to enter into a kind of involuntary truce, 
resulting in a tacit stipulation, that theology should 
retire to its own domain in the supernatural, where they 
suppose dwells revelation, spirituality, doctrines, devo- 
tions, moral virtues, and all that does not exist in the 
natural realms. While science might revel in the mate- 
rial to his heart's content, and extend his surveys into 
the vast expanse of nature, as long as he did not infringe 
upon the province of the spiritual or the supernatural; 
and thus the matter seems to stand with the parties at 



WORLD BUILDERS. 351 

the present. Still the great difficulty remains, for each 
party to define their ground, and decide exactly how far 
the natural universe extends, and precisely where the 
realms of the supernatural commences. To tell which 
part of the great universe has been produced by the 
almighty power; which part of all the numerous objects 
that come within the range of our vision, were brought 
into existence by the infinite fiat, and which was pro- 
duced by natural immutable laws ; which part is gov- 
erned and controlled by special providences, emanating 
from that infinite father, in answer to the multiplied 
petitions of his favorites, and which is governed by estab- 
lished laws, that seem to pervade the entire universe. 

These vexed questions are by no means settled, nor 
will they be fully disposed of until humanity recognizes 
the fact that spiritual intelligences not only exist, but, 
that they are actively engaged in the performance of 
their several labors and duties, in accordance with their 
capacities, their experience and their knowledge. Until 
men shall have discovered that neither an infinite, 
almighty being, they are pleased to call God, watches 
over and attends personally to the minutiae of all the 
particular affairs in the endless diversified compartments 
of all worlds, and on the other hand, that they are not 
governed solely by natural forces, uncontrolled by intel- 
ligence; but, that infinite millions of spiritual beings who 
have lived upon our earth, and who bear a sort of natu- 
ral relationship to the things of the earth, are every- 
where delegated to give attention to all the details and 
minutiae, both in the material and spiritual realms. 
That, there must of necessity be all grades of ability and 
knowledge, and no lack of labor and duties for all these 



352 WORLD BUILDERS. 

different capacities, from the one that sits upon the 
eternal throne, to the very lowest that has an existence 
in their spirit abodes. And, it must be admitted that 
there is something vastly more sensible, natural and 
democratic, about this idea of the division of labor in the 
spheres, than in the idea of placing all upon the shoul- 
ders of one individual being; for, labor is labor, whether 
performed by spirits or men. It requires thought, time, 
care and attention, both to produce and to manage the 
productions, after they are brought into existence. The 
time cannot be far distant, when large masses of indi- 
viduals shall have discovered the fact that all human 
intelligent beings have progressed upwards, through all 
the various forms of inorganic and organic existence, 
to their present condition. And further, that they may 
properly indulge the exalted hope of passing through 
the multitudinous changes incident to the spirit spheres, 
until they may arrive at the loftiest condition of super- 
nal glory, far beyond that of which our minds can take 
cognizance, or even entertain a conception. They may 
learn other facts connected with that existence, and 
discover that an eternity cannot be loitered away in 
droning out praises and adoration to any high person- 
ality whatever; but, that it must be occupied in those 
more active and important enterprises becoming supe- 
rior intellectual beings. Those who have had broad 
experiences and discipline in the lower schools, are pre- 
pared to enter upon the broadest possible field in the 
spiritual realms, where they may engage in the proper 
exercise of all their spiritually intensified faculties and 
powers. 

The intelligent reader has doubtless long since dis- 



WORLD BUILDERS, 353 

covered, that there can be no mistakes or casualties 
connected with any portion of the great business of 
world building, because the projectors must necessarily 
have an accurate knowledge of the whole matter before 
they can engage in such an important undertaking. 
There must, in every instance, be a perfect adaptation 
of means to the ends they desire 1o accomplish; also, a 
strict compliance with the universal and eternally exist- 
ing laws in every particular and minutiae, else the whole 
undertaking would prove a failure, and the world could 
not be built any more successfully than a smaller, less 
complicated machine. When we get a clear idea of the 
grand purpose for which worlds are built, then we may 
form a very correct conclusion in regard to the form in 
which they must appear. If the grand object for which 
they are constructed is carried out, principally upon the 
surface, then the more surface the more extensively this 
object can be carried out. There can be no doubt that 
all intelligent beings will, in their progressive history, 
become as familiar with world building, as they now are 
with the erection of their own residences or those of their 
neighbors. 



x 



CHAPTER XL 

DISSOLUTION AND RECONSTRUCTION. 

For the purpose of getting a clearer and more per- 
spicuous idea of the constituent elements and machinery 
attached to our globe, and the various processes by which 
the component materials are operated upon by such 
machinery, perhaps, it might be as well to contrive some 
means by which the beautiful fabric may be taken to 
pieces, and resolved into its original elements, so we may 
have an opportunity of examining its separate wheels 
and springs more minutely and carefully, that we may 
better form a correct idea of their several uses. If you 
would learn the young apprentice how to construct a 
watch or a clock, or any other intricate piece of ma- 
chinery, you would pursue much the same course; allow 
him to take one apart, and carefully examine all the 
separate details, and then re-construct the same again, 
placing the several parts in their proper position. 

If you would obtain an accurate idea of the workings 
of the human structure, and acquire a competent knowl- 
edge of the processes by which it performs its varied 
functions, and learn all the secret operations and uses 
of the different portions of the complicated machinery 
that lies hidden within tho human organization, doubt- 



DISSOLUTION. 355 

less, the best method would be, to take a few of them 
apart, to dissect and anatomize them, thus obtaining 
a view of the whole superstructure. May it not be 
possible, then, for finite spiritual beings to become pos- 
sessed of sufficient wisdom and power to bring a world 
into the laboratory, resolve it into its original elements, 
and examine carefully all the separate portions of the 
huge structure? May they not in this manner gain a 
more accurate knowledge of the secret springs and wheel 
work which produce the varied activities and effects that 
we behold in such profusion, in this our world, evidently 
working out such stupendous purposes, and tending di- 
rectly towards an inconceivably glorious consummation? 

The reader has doubtless become well persuaded that 
worlds can be easily constructed by the powers and 
principalities who are competent to undertake such 
grand schemes, and that beings who possess sufficient 
ability, and consequent power, can as naturally manu- 
facture and construct worlds, under the proper condi- 
tions, as our mechanics can build steamships, or any 
other structures requiring skill and materials. And in 
order to accomplish so vast a work, similar conditions 
would be requisite. 

Firstly. Either party must of necessity have a design 
or plan of what they would build, and also the required 
knowledge that would enable them to follow the design 
in all its details. Secondly. A sufficiency of materials 
from which the superstructure may be erected. Thirdly. 
The necessary forces to collect and place the materials 
where they will be most needed, or in their appropriate 
positions. And Fourthly. The requisite amount of time 
in which the mechanics may perform the necessary labor, 



856 DISSOLUTION. 

which will result in the consummation of the work they 
have in view, whether great or comparatively small. It 
will be noticed, that whether we build worlds, or ships, 
or edifices, or any other mechanical structures, all these 
requisitions must receive proper attention. 

We cannot open our eyes upon the objects by which 
we are surrounded everywhere, but we discover that 
materials have been aggregated by certain forces, evi- 
dently controlled and managed by superior intelligences, 
and that there is such a thing as a world; which, as a 
mechanical structure, must have been produced by a 
steady succession of causes that are still in operation. 
Hence, we are compelled to conclude, they have been in 
activity through all the various changes and modifica- 
tions the world has passed, from its inception to the 
present ; when, we seem to behold the general superstruc- 
ture in such an advanced and elevated condition. 

It will be noticed, that when individuals have acquired 
the ability to construct, by the use of forces and mate- 
rials, any given work in a manner that will subserve the 
purposes designed, they must necessarily have learned 
the additional art of taking such structure in pieces. 
For, if they know how it goes together, they must of 
course know how it will come apart, or how a dissolu- 
tion of the parts can be effected, and we readily con- 
clude that it is somewhat easier to resolve materials into 
their primeval elements, than it was to take them in that 
condition, and mould and fashion them into a mechanical 
structure: it is easier to destroy than to construct. 

Men have acquired almost supreme control over many 
of the elemental forces found in nature; they can employ 
them to suit their own purposes, whether in building or 



DISSOLUTION. 357 

in destroying and disintegrating that which has been 
already built, and they probably have learned but little 
in relation to this matter, that may be learned during 
their future history, in the home of the spirit. Yet they 
can use and handle that exceedingly powerful element 
steam, as a child would handle and find amusement from 
a toy ; they make it perform an inconceivable amount 
of labor, both by sea and land. Men have also acquired 
no inconsiderable knowledge concerning that more sub- 
limated element, electricity; they control and use, to a 
certain extent, this great etherealized force for numer- 
ous purposes; they call upon this subtle fluid, and in 
obedience to their will, it travels across the continent, 
and under the depths of the ocean, and by its aid they 
transmit intelligence from country to country, with the 
celerity of thought, and in conjunction with the great 
positive element, magnetism, they may find a motive 
power sufficient to perform all the necessary labor of the 
world. 

They have also acquired a knowledge of chemical 
analysis that is nearly bewildering to the uninitiated; 
they can resolve almost any object in nature to its origi- 
nal elements; they can bring to bear, forces that will 
rend asunder and tear in pieces, those forms and sub- 
stances that have been erected and finished in a very 
elaborate manner; and, perhaps, in all the universal 
kingdom, there is no substance so refractory that may 
not be decomposed by forces that are under the control 
of the accomplished chemist. And now, if man has, 
during his transient and extremely limited existence, 
under a variety of unfavorable circumstances here upon 
the earth, acquired all this vast fund of knowledge and 



358 DISSOLUTION. 

experience, what may not the same individuals, with 
increased spiritualized capacities, attain after having 
been ages in the higher realms. It is by no means too 
much to suppose, that it would be within the bounds of 
their possibilities, and that they might possess knowledge 
equal to the task, and solvents of sufficient power, to 
subject this huge globe of ours to a kind of analysis that 
would decompose its every particle, and reduce them to 
their primeval condition; and why not? It is a living, 
absolute truth, that the globe exists as a mechanical 
structure, and there can be no less knowledge in the 
universe at the present, than when this structure first 
commenced its existence, in its more incomplete outlines. 

It will doubtless be conceded by all parties, that 
globes or planets must necessarily be constructed by 
spiritual agency, whether that agency is confined to a 
single personality or otherwise; whether they are pro- 
duced by one being, or millions. If, then, the builders 
are spiritual, the material used must be spiritual also; 
it must bear the same relationship to the material worlds 
as spiritual beings bear to those who dwell upon those 
worlds, and exist in the most rarefied or etherealized 
condition ; for, we may be assured that those beings can 
do nothing, unless there is a law by which it may be 
done. They no more exist and perform their labors 
independent of natural laws, than ourselves, and what- 
ever they do, must be done in accordance with the im- 
perious behests of eternal law. 

The nebulous theory contemplates all world material 
a- existing in the most gaseous and rarefied condition, 
and that it gradually changed to a more condensed and 
materialized state, by certain natural processes. It 



DISSOLUTION. 359 

becomes quite evident, then, if there are processes in 
nature which will change matter from a gaseous to a 
solidified condition, there must be processes also, which 
will reduce it back to its original state. We are in- 
debted to this great power in nature, by which material 
substances may be changed into ethereal, and then ma- 
terialized again in some other form, more beautiful and 
complex, for all we behold that is grand and attractive, 
for all the interesting objects in nature, which are cal- 
culated to inspire the mind with pleasurable emotions. 

The solidified portions of the majestic oak, were at- 
tracted from the earth in the most rarefied condition 
through the minute spongioles attached to the numerous 
rootlets, and the materialization has taken place in 
accordance with nature's invisible processes within the 
tree. The bony concretions of the whole animal race 
have been produced in a similar manner from elemental 
substances existing in the food, perfectly inappreciable 
and invisible to those who eat. Were there no such 
changes and modifications of material substances, all 
nature would remain at a perfect stand-still, progress 
would cease, and universal death would reign supreme. 
Had there been no law in nature by which matter could 
be etherealized, then all would have remained in the 
materialized condition; and we should not have been 
provided with those elements so essential in the produc- 
tion and continuance of the vegetable and animal king- 
doms. 

We then discover, that, with a solvent of sufficient 
power, applied in a proper manner, a dissolution of the 
atomic particles of a globe might be a result; the lofty 
mountain might melt and flee away, and the solid crust 



360 DISSOLUTION. 

of the earth be consumed, or reduced to infinitesimal 
atoms far beyond the reach of human vision. Doubtless 
the very processes are even now in gradual operation, 
that may ultimate, at some far distant period, in such a 
beautiful and sublime result. Sublime and glorious 
indeed would be such a consummation. The contem- 
plation that all gross matter is gradually, nevertheless 
surely, passing through those spiritualizing processes 
that may, during some of the ages of an unappreciable 
future, render our earth and its surroundings the happy 
abode of inconceivable billions of spirit entities, now 
existing in the lowest materialized forms, is certainly 
one of intense interest. 

Our earth was certainly once less spiritual, or more 
gross, than to-day; it did not produce "or sustain as ele- 
vated a race of beings as it now does. Just as surely 
as it has progressed in this direction, just so surely will 
it keep on, until all that is now material shall progress, 
by various modifications, to a more etherealized and 
elevated condition. The surrounding elements must 
keep even pace with the progressive advancement of the 
human race. The highly cultivated, refined man or 
woman require surroundings entirely different from the 
gorilla or Hottentot; they are evidently produced from 
more refined materials. It is by no means visionary to 
suppose that the inhabitants of our earth, ten thousand, 
or even one thousand years hence, will be vastly supe- 
rior to those who live to-day ; they will evidently become 
more spiritualized, and will require more refined elements 
in which to exist. If we carry out this reasoning we 
can easily discover the grand culmination. 

It must be admitted that power and wisdom exist to- 



DISSOLUTION, 361 

day, quite equal to that which moulded and fashioned 
our world into its present form ; and doubtless, wisdom 
and power of that character would be quite competent 
to resolve the fa.bric to its primeval elements. If we 
may base our reasoning upon any principle of progress- 
ive development, we cannot successfully contradict the 
fact, that untold billions of intelligent beings must have 
arrived at as high a condition of knowledge, as the 
original projectors and fabricators of our earth, since 
that eventful period when it was set in motion. For, 
we have already become quite well assured, it did not 
require infinite ability to perform such a task. 

It was said by one whose words have been quoted for 
many centuries by the most intelligent of earth's inhab- 
itants, as the oracles of divine truth, that "the elements 
shall melt with fervent heat." If this is correct, the 
author must have found a solvent of sufficient power to 
melt the institution, if not to produce an entire dissolu- 
tion of its atomic particles. If we consult the oracles 
of science, we shall find the earth composed of compara- 
tively few primary or simple substances; and that over 
one-half of the ponderable matter is by no means solidi- 
fied, but exists in a fluid invisible condition. Much of 
the solids are to a certain extent combustible, and all 
are subject to changes by the direct action of heat of no 
great temperature. It may not be supposed that chem- 
ists have as yet become acquainted with any degree of 
heat that will entirely dissolve every element in the 
original granite, neither can it be supposed that chemists 
have explored any further in that direction, than they 
have in others, or that they have arrived at the end of 
their researches in any given direction. It is by no 
31 



362 DISSOLUTION. 

means probable that the last discovery has been made 
in this branch of human science; but that it may yet 
reveal to the world very much that is of rare value, of 
which the most skillful among them now know nothing. 
However, they have found degrees of heat that approx- 
imate very closely to the decomposition of the most 
refractory elements in nature. It is only necessary to 
find increasing powers of generating heat of greater and 
still greater intensity, until a power is obtained, suffi- 
cient to dissolve all the various substances found in the 
original granite, and the great work of dissolution may 
be accomplished. 

There can be no doubt but magnetism, the concentrated 
essential element of heat, might be so manipulated by 
those who have the power, as to utterly annihilate, as far 
as human vision is concerned, all substances of a negative 
materialized character. But magnetism, even then, 
notwithstanding it might become a power sufficient to 
dissolve and destroy all, being a positive element, would 
necessarily exhaust its own resources, and hence could 
not remain, for any length of time, master of the situa- 
tion. As all positive elements, in the performance of 
their labors, expend their own forces and exhaust them- 
selves, they of course must become negative. We behold 
a fire raging to-day with terrible fury; it is positive to 
all the combustible and all else within its influence, but 
it has eventually consumed everything within its reach,; 
destroyed itself by its own terrible energies, and to-' 
morrow its strength is gone, it has become negative, 
cold and dead, and no more to be feared. 

So we discover, even if we should find an element of 
sufficient positive power to dissolve all natural things, 



DISSOLUTION. 363 

that element would finally become negative, because 
there could be no re-supply of the exhausted positive 
forces. Hence the concentrated element of heat which 
is magnetism, after being thus exhausted, would resolve 
itself into the opposite element of cold, which is electri- 
city, and this power would be all and in all; queen of 
the wild scene of desolation where naught could be found 
but darkness, inactivity and death. 

If such a catastrophe could possibly occur, as the 
sudden dissolution of the atomic particles composing a 
world, we discover at once, that those particles must be 
returned to their original or primeval condition, and 
that condition must have been one of absolute negative- 
ness or inactivity. For, wherever we find positive 
elements, there is a state of activity and consequent 
change, and hence progress at once takes place, and 
matter subjected to such influences, can by no means 
remain in a quiescent, primeval condition. Electricity, 
being the highest negative element, must then absorb all 
that has lost its positive character, and, as a sequence, 
must be the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end 
of all things, and holds supreme control throughout the 
universal realms of space, where positive activities have 
not been introduced, or where they have ceased their 
operations. 

We may look out into the vast expanse of our own 
solar system, without wandering off into the distant side- 
real universe, and find ample room for the swiftest comets 
to travel away for centuries, to and from the extreme 
aphelion of their eccentric orbits, before making a return 
to the central sun. We shall find also, that only a small 
portion of this immense space is occupied by planetary 



364 DISSOLUTION. 

bodies or their attendant satellites. Then, if we ascer- 
tain the positive active elements are confined to the 
materialized heavenly bodies, we may learn that almost 
the whole of this inconceivable amount of space, is in an 
entirely negative, inactive condition. 

But little can be found in all the inconceivable realms 
of space which are outside the influence of the various 
planetary orbs, except darkness, coldness, inactivity and 
death ; it is all electrical. The magnetic, living, active, 
positive forces are confined to the orbs where such forces 
are needed, as they are entirely unnecessary out in the 
realms of space. Hence we perceive that life exists in 
the midst of death. Life has proceeded from death, 
but in no case does death proceed from life. Life and 
light, heat, and all positive, active elements have been 
produced in the midst of this overwhelming region of 
death, or negative properties, by wisdom and power 
competent to undertake and accomplish such mighty 
achievements. Then, we discover the great fact, that 
all outside the orbs is death, and that the orbs themselves 
are but a commingling of the two great antagonistic 
elements, the living and the dead, the positive and the 
negative. If you wish to destroy an animal, you kill, 
or take its life. If we destroy a world, we must do the 
same thing, deprive it of life, and both will resolve them- 
selves back to their original condition. 

The solidified portions of our globe have evidently 
been materialized by active life elements, the same as 
the animal; deprive them again of those elements, and 
they both die and return to their primeval atoms. De- 
prive them of all positive, and they both become nega- 
tive in the broadest sense of that term; and that term 



DISSOLUTION. 3bo 

includes dissolution to the farthest possible extent. We 
can conceive of no solvent that would produce this result 
more readily than intensified heat, and we apprehend 
that a thousandth part of the quantity our modern savans 
have placed within the crust of the globe, would accom- 
plish the grand feat most successfully. It must appear 
obvious to the reader, either learned or unlearned, that 
an intelligence endowed with power sufficient to use 
elemental forces in building worlds, could also bring to 
bear forces that might ultimate in their destruction. 

It will also appear obvious, that in the boundless 
realms of space, beyond the farthest limits of planetary 
systems, or outside the existence of all worlds, there 
may be found unoccupied territory so inconceivably vast 
in its limits, as to defy all attempts at mathematical 
computation. There must be incomprehensible realms 
of inactivity and frozen death, where the great negative 
elements hold high carnival and enjoy their triumphal 
reign, where no spirit of life and activity have yet ap- 
peared to illuminate their darkness, and introduce living 
principles and essences, which might cheer their eternal 
gloom. 

We cannot doubt but in the cycles of eternities in 
the future, portions, larger and still larger, of the unoc- 
cupied space shall be built up and smile with beauty and 
all the harmonies of nature; that where, now, nothing 
but coldness and darkness exist, at some future period 
the principalities and powers of new-formed worlds and 
systems shall peal forth their happy symphonies of joy 
and gladness. Symphonies which may resound through 
the arched domes of universal spheres, from centre to 
circumference, everywhere meeting with a cheering re- 



366 DISSOLUTION. 

sponse, and calling forth loud anthems of exultation in 
honor of the wisdom and power that may accomplish 
such wonderful purposes. Have "the morning stars 
sang together/' and all the "sons of God shouted for 
joy," when new-born worlds were ushered into existence, 
then the "stars" may have frequent occasion to repeat 
their songs, and the "sons of God" may as often reite- 
rate their reverberating shouts. 

There can be no more doubt but the waste places in 
the universal realms shall be built up, and the illimitable 
deserts in the vast wilderness of space, shall bud and 
blossom as the rose, than there is that the barren deserts 
of our own earth will at some time become fertile and 
productive, smile w T ith beauty and plenty, and be scat- 
tered with the habitations of an intelligent people. 

We cannot, upon any principle of analogical reason- 
ing, suppose that the worlds are all finished, or that they 
are all commenced; but on the contrary, we must con- 
clude, as world building must have occupied the attention 
of advanced intelligences in all the eternities of the past, 
such must be the case during all the eternal cycles of 
the future. New and unoccupied territory must then be 
explored, and improvements of this exalted character 
must be made in the spheres which are only bounded by 
unlimited universal space; precisely the same as the 
unoccupied territory of our own earth shall ultimately 
be subdued and cultivated by earth's inhabitants. Thus 
we learn that this element which impels men to seek 
distant countries, and which seems to be such a promi- 
nent organ in some natures, need by no means die for 
want of the needed activities in the spiritual realms, for 



DISSOLUTION. 367 

there must be ample fields in which this organ can find 
active exercise. 

We have ascertained, and the reader will bear in 
mind, that, when we deprive any active living organism 
of all positive, active forces, death ensues ; a dissolution 
follows, and the whole organization becomes negative, 
and returns to its primeval, homogeneous element, which 
is electricity. Then it follows, that whether the eter- 
nally existing negative atoms have been once acted upon 
by positive forces or not, they are in the same relative 
or negative condition when entirely disconnected with 
any positive living elements. So, if we find that elec- 
tricity is the great mother, and may swallow up and 
contain all in her capacious womb, then we must neces- 
sarily conclude that all things have proceeded from this 
universal mother. That, in the primeval condition, if 
there could have been sucL a condition, this element 
was the grand reservoir of all materials and forces, and 
that out of this abysmal death came all there is of life, 
and out of this darkness came light, and beauty, and 
glory. Out of this eternal repose came all the activities 
of nature, and this negative condition of atomic particles 
is, and was, a necessary precedent to all that is positive, 
and that has become so replete with the living, active 
organism, which inspires the mind with so much wonder 
and astonishment; all that is grand and beautiful and 
calculated to adorn the various worlds, rendering them 
suitable habitations for intelligent beings, have proceeded 
from this universal source, by a skillful application of 
positive forces in the hands of highly endowed spiritual 
beings. 

Suppose we permit the exalted spiritual intelligences 



368 DISSOLUTION. 

to which we have referred, to enter this vast realm of 
darkness and chaotic death, and ascertain what may be 
done in regard to the erection of a world, and we may 
give them six days, or six indefinite periods, of time of 
untold billions of ages each, in which to accomplish 
their work. It is a conceded point that mind exercises 
control over matter, and it may well be conceded that 
exalted spiritual mentalities may exercise authority over 
matter in an etherealized atomic form; in its negative 
inactive condition, in its unevolved primeval state; so 
rarefied as not to be discerned by the most powerful 
lenses yet constructed. This is the kind of etherealized 
substances that can only be discerned by the penetrating 
vision of spiritual beings, and handled by their highly 
refined touch, and controlled by their intensified powers, 
which is all ready to be converted to use when necessity 
demands. And this unevolved material must exist in 
its atomic condition superabundantly in that portion 
of the vast universal realms which are now unoccupied 
by planetary orbs in their various stages of completion 
or progression. 

When intelligent beings in the upper spheres discover 
that a demand exists for the construction and develop- 
ment of new woi'lds, when emigration in those realms 
seeks to occupy new territory, or when the mechanical 
genius of advancing, ever-progressing spirit intelligences 
require new fields in which to exercise their vast skill 
and ability, then it is, that this electrical, invisible space 
ether may be subjected to the control of positive forces, 
and both the atomic material and the forces are called 
upon to perform their part in the stupendous drama that 
brings worlds and systems of worlds upon the stage of 



RECONSTRUCTION. 36& 

the universe. The great work of world building is but 
partially accomplished, and must go on in all its sub- 
limity and grandeur, through the endless eternities. 
The individual that has been the successful builder of 
an edifice like St. Paul's, or of a gallant steamship, or 
of a pyramid, cannot be contented to rest there. He 
will, no doubt, in the progress of ages, when he has 
accomplished everything of a lesser nature, be strongly 
inclined to try his hand at an asteroid, a comet, or a 
moon, where he will find abundant opportunity and room 
for the exercise of his continually increasing wisdom and 
powers, of comprehending mechanical appliances. 

No one can doubt but there must be inconceivable 
hosts of intelligent beings, who are ready and willing to 
engage in such a work, and to render their aid in the 
different details and minutiae, not only for the purpose 
of assisting in the construction, but for the higher pur- 
pose of gaining knowledge in all the particulars, and in 
all the complicated processes that are introduced in such 
an elaborate structure, from its inception until the entire 
fabric is completed. Now, we may inquire if there are 
not forces and laws, principles, attributes, and phenom- 
ena, to be introduced in the construction of a world or 
system of worlds, of sufficient magnitude and interest, to 
engage the attention of the loftiest spiritual intelligent 
being of which the mind can have any possible concep- 
tion. If human intelligences are to improve in knowl- 
edge from day to day, through the cycles of eternal 
ages to come, what more interesting field of research 
can be found, than an inquiry into the most approved 
modes, in all their particulars of constructing and elab- 
orating a world like this, with all its varied inhabitants? 



370 RECONSTRUCTION. 

You, gentle reader, have doubtless had much expe- 
rience. You perhaps have obtained a knowledge of 
some of the sciences; you may know something of as- 
tronomy, of the higher mathematics, of chemistry, and 
geology, and perhaps very much of other departments 
that usually come to the notice of inquiring and educa- 
ted minds. But ask yourself — how much comparatively 
do I know to-day, concerning the great macrocosm of 
which I am a part and parcel ? and how am I to become 
acquainted with the entire lesson appertaining to my- 
self, and concerning the whole, unless I pursue a regular 
course of instruction? 

How very natural, in this earth-life, for persons to 
engage as apprentices or students in that profession or 
occupation they would successfully master, and how 
natural for the self-same individuals, in a higher life, 
and in a more advanced condition, pursuing further 
researches and investigations in the great fields of nature, 
to engage as apprentices or workmen in the construc- 
tion of those organizations they would thoroughly under- 
stand. How else, we ask, can they arrive at that 
knowledge which they require to give ihem a clear 
comprehension of themselves, in all their relationships 
to the great whole, unless they engage as fellow work- 
men in the construction of the different complex pieces 
of machinery that are necessarily introduced in order 
to complete the whole ? 

Do not think, then, that you shall pass from this 
scene of earthly activity, and sit down forever under a 
bower of overhanging roses, and delight yourself eter- 
nally with sipping nectar and tasting ambrosia prepared 
by angel hands, or by singing long-drawn-out anthems 



RECONSTRUCTION. 371 

in some diminutive heaven, prepared for a chosen few. 
By no means. The universe around you is not half fin- 
ished ; work is to be done by brave hearts and willing 
hands; labor of a thousand different kinds is to be per- 
formed, and duties of a pressing nature, that shall lead 
you in every possible direction, are to receive your atten- 
tion. New and unbroken territory, that has remained 
in the regions of Belisma from all eternity, is to be en- 
croached upon, subdued, and prepared for new worlds 
and systems of worlds. Forces, powers, and principali- 
ties, are to be brought into subservience, materials are 
to be aggregated and disposed of in a proper and orderly 
manner, in obedience to laws and the direction of the 
great master minds who control and superintend, and 
there must be every variety of labor to perform, every 
occupation to pursue, and every position to fill, that can 
possibly occur upon this our earth; for all things have 
existed in the spiritual, before they could possibly be 
materialized and come to us. 

All planetary worlds must evidently be governed by 
general laws which are universal in their operations and 
influence. Yet there seems to be untold varieties of 
shapes, dimensions, forms and conditions of the worlds 
that have already been constructed, and hence it will be 
absolutely necessary that the great master mind, the 
superintending architect, should understand precisely 
the kind of world he designs to build, in its every minu- 
tiae and particular, and exactly for what purpose it is to 
be constructed. It would be necessary also to inquire 
in respect to the motions of the world you propose to 
erect, the rapidity of the movements, and their relation- 
ship to the other heavenly bodies in the system, if it 



372 RECONSTRUCTION. 

has an axial revolution, how rapidly shall it turn, if 
orbital, in what time shall it revolve around its grand 
center, as there are no two planets or satellites in our 
solar system, that perform those revolutions in the same 
length of time, differing from a few days to 164 years. 
When these important preliminary matters, and very 
many others we cannot reach with our limited compre- 
hensions, are settled, we may begin to look around, if 
possible, w T here all is apparently void, and where dark- 
ness sits upon the face of the mighty deep, and ascer- 
tain what may be done towards building a world. 

The Hebrew God said under similar circumstances, 
"Let there be light, and there was light," and if he said 
it, and light was produced in accordance with the say- 
ing, then he must of necessity have had the knowledge 
and power adequate to its production, and light must 
have made its appearance in accordance with universal 
law, and by virtue of certain means that were used for 
its generation. Similar means would be necessary to- 
day, in any place where all is darkness, or at any other 
time when the circumstances require that light should 
be produced. If an intelligent being should go out into 
the darkness in order to perform some labor that would 
require light by which he could perform it properly, he 
would most likely go provided with the means, and would 
probably well understand how he could procure the 
necessary light, and he might with propriety use the 
same language, "Let there be light/' 

If we should penetrate the deep recesses of an icy 
cave, where all around nothing but darkness, gloom, 
silence, and death, could be found, where no ray of light 
has penetrated, where no heat has ever exerted its 



RECONSTRUCTION. 373 

cheering influence, and no trace of positive element 
exists, but that we carry with us, we might say with 
propriety, "Let there be light," for we might carry with 
us that by which it could be produced. We might use 
a steel and flint and other requisites, or a lucifer match, 
and apply a little friction, and behold there would be 
light. Can we suppose that we possess more wisdom in 
relation to such matters, than those intelligences who 
have had untold ages of experience, and opportunities 
so inceivably superior for obtaining a knowledge of all 
laws in the material and spiritual realms? Certainly 
not; for the entire of our knowledge proceeded from 
them ; if we have learned how to produce light out of 
darkness, they have taught us the lesson. We are in- 
debted to them for the information, and we have learned 
simply this, that friction will produce caloric and mag- 
netism, and without magnetism there is no light in the 
broad uiverse; for this element is the father and pro- 
genitor of all light, and but for magnetism it cannot 
possibly exist. 

We have already ascertained that electricity had 
swallowed up all that there was, because all had origi- 
nally proceeded from this great negative mother, this 
universal essential element of cold, and darkness, and 
death, which is the first and the last, the Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end, of all things, the 
"all and in all," which sits in silent, undisturbed gran- 
deur, and exercises undisputed authority over all the 
inconceivably vast unoccupied regions of space, and will 
there hold universal sway, until those territories are 
encroached upon by intelligences, who enter the dark 
solitudes for the high purpose of constructing planetary 
32 



374 RECONSTRUCTION. 

abodes, and developing other spiritual beings, that are 
waiting the proper time to rise from their eternal sleep. 
When the great master minds enter those dark, icy re- 
gions of coldness and death, what should they do but 
say, "Let there be light," and use the requisite means 
to produce this element by motion or friction, as motion 
produces friction, and that generates magnetism, and 
now we have a positive element that brings the sleeping 
negative powers of electricity into activity, and light 
and life commence their grand career from that moment; 
and the powers and principalities that take this matter 
in hand, are prepared for the great work of constructing 
new heavens and a new earth. 

It is probable that most persons as children have 
engaged in the agreeable pastime of blowing soap bub- 
bles, and have watched with childish interest the dainty 
evanescent miniature globes float away upon the atmos- 
phere, ready to vanish into seeming nothing upon the 
least disturbance of this element. Perhaps older per- 
sons, who are wandering far outside of nature's realms 
in pursuit of knowledge and possible enjoyment, might 
find profound lessons of instruction in the little airy 
bubbles that are blown for the amusement of children, 
for as they dance aw T ay upon their brief journey, they 
exhibit some of the sublimest phenomena in nature. 
They show precisely the principles upon w T hich worlds 
may be commenced and established; they represent in 
miniature just the kind of superstructure we require to 
insure the greatest amount of strength compatible with 
the smallest amount of material; and it cannot be sup- 
posed that those two great mechanical principles, can be 
lost to view in the construction of a world, or that any 



RECONSTRUCTION. 375 

mechanical principle can be introduced into any struc- 
ture by the inhabitants of a globe, that was not under- 
stood by the original builder, and is not incorporated 
as a part of the globe itself. 

It will be perceived that all the elements of soap 
bubbles, or of globes made of glass or any other mate- 
rial, existed in this dark electrical condition, and that 
those minds who had sufficient ability, could have ex- 
panded that etherealized substance into a globe as easily 
as the child blows the bubble, or the glass-blower fash- 
ions one from the vitreous matter that he takes from 
the furnace, in its melted condition. Evidently the size 
of this globe, so formed from spiritualized materials, 
must depend upon the amount of force brought to bear, 
and the quantity of matter employed, and the expansion 
to which it attains, would depend upon all those several 
conditions. This is certainly a very simple method of 
producing a globe, nevertheless, we find it to be most 
effectual, and we may reasonably suppose that the great 
spiritual mechanics might resort to some similar process. 

The materials made use of in the early stages of the 
formation of a world, are doubtless quite as flexible and 
easily managed as those from which the child forms his 
miniature globe: and being entirely negative, and in 
the midst of inactivity, there can be no disturbances to 
displace the etherealized atoms, until they may become 
materialized. Although this method may appear quite 
simple at first view, yet its simplicity is its chief com- 
mendation, and in this lies its great beauty; for all 
mechanical and scientific principles are extremely simple 
when properly understood. We now defy all ikb me- 
chanical or philosophical ingenuity in the wide* world, 



376 RECONSTRUCTION. 

to arrive at any plan or devise any method that would 
accomplish this object so successfully and completely. 
In order to produce a world, formed upon any mechan- 
ical principle, we require a spherical shell containing 
the requisite amount of materials, to insure the needed 
strength, and no more; we need all the superficial area 
that can be introduced into the structure; as, the grand 
purposes for which worlds are constructed, must be car- 
ried out upon the surface; and all this is to be accom- 
plished from sublimated atomic particles, by spiritual 
beings, if it is admitted that intelligence has anything 
to do with the matter. Now, we may inquire in all 
sincerity — what other plan can possibly be introduced 
but the expansion of the etherealized elements into a 
hollow sphere, that would so completely and practically 
mold those elements into the globular form, and carry 
out the purposes of the spiritual builders upon scientific 
and harmonious principles. 

If we may conceive it possible for those master minds 
to produce a globe in such a manner from the ethereal 
elements, then we may conceive it quite as possible to 
make the necessary additions of similar elements, until 
the foundations of an inner and outer world are fully 
established. Thus in process of time, a stupendous 
superstructure may be reared and finally materialized, 
capable of giving birth and sustenance to innumerable 
billions of human intelligent beings who may in future 
ages shout forth glad pceans in honor of those mighty 
architects who were competent to furnish them so grand 
a dwelling place. 

It will be noticed, that this foundation or back-bone 
pf a terrestrial spherical globe must be composed of the 



RECONSTRUCTION. 377 

most negative, inactive and death-like elements which 
can be found in nature; or rather, that means may not 
be used, which will render tbera positive and active, lest 
disturbances be introduced where all must remain but 
the materialized symbol of eternal death. For it is 
hardly necessary to say that disturbing elements in the 
interior portions of the shell, might be attended with 
disastrous if not fatal consequences; and that the des- 
truction of the entire fabric might ensue. And those 
materials must now be added, that affinitize as nearly as 
possible both upon the outer and inner surface, that no 
disturbing forces may be introduced into the deep, silent 
recesses of this shell or sphere, which, in the process of 
ages is to accumulate continuous accretions of material 
substances, until it swells out to the proudest dimensions 
of a stupendous world, furnished with all its attributes 
and clothed in all its glory. 

All new-formed globes seem to be built as dependents 
or satellites for some other worlds already in existence, 
which are so far advanced that they stand in need of such 
secondaries; for assuredly, worlds will not be erected 
unless they are really needed. We cannot suppose that 
labor will be expended, and materials squandered in a 
useless manner; and unless there is a necessity for so 
doing, and it is done for some high purpose, worlds will 
not be built. We perceive also, that the secondary must 
to a certain extent partake of the movement of the pri- 
mary, and if the parent revolves around a great central 
orb, the younger one must go also. The reader will 
readily discover the importance and necessity of placing 
the most inactive elements in the central portions of 
this sphere, and building the foundations of our hoi- 



378 RECONSTRUCTION. 

low globe from that kind of material that affinitizes as 
nearly as possible to death and eternal quiet. We think 
an intelligent architect, who proposed to erect an impor- 
tant edifice, that was designed to be permanent and 
enduring, would use the same precaution, and make a 
foundation of those materials least subject to disturbing 
influences, and that would be most likely to remain in 
a condition of inactive repose for the longest possible 
period of time. 

But strange to say, the advocates of the very popular 
igneous theory, have placed within the bowels of our 
earth an inconceivable mass of the most active, uneasy, 
explosive, ragingly destructive materials, surrounding it 
by a frail and feeble crust, entirely inadequate to resist 
the least disturbance that might occur. They flatter 
themselves that under such perilous circumstances all 
things are secure; and no doubt they are, because there 
is not a particle of truth in the theory — and the real 
foundations of the globe, upon which the whole fabric 
rests with so much security and permanency, are com- 
posed of the most inactive and enduring materials, that 
are eternally sleeping in the frozen embrace of death. 

It would be strange indeed if the architects who went 
out to superintend the building of a world, did not 
have the common sense of the man who would build a 
dwelling or a church. The igneous or Laplace theory 
contemplates that worlds constructed themselves, after 
some unknown power established the motion which re- 
volved the huge mass of nebulous material upon its axis; 
and, if they built themselves without any intelligent 
superintendence, then it would be no marvel if they 
should make use of the most active, disturbing and 



RECONSTRUCTION. 379 

explosive elements, as a foundation upon which to rear 
the fabric. But, if we admit the rational idea, that these 
wondrous, mechanical, self-moving worlds, which display 
such inconceivable wisdom in their designs, and in all 
their varied evolutions, were projected under the guid- 
ance and direction of super-eminently qualified intelli- 
gences, then we may conclude, that the foundations are 
composed of those materials that are permanent and 
secure, and that they will remain without producing 
disturbance until all the purposes for which a globe 
could be constructed are entirely consummated — until 
the last act in the great drama of a world's existence is 
fully performed. 

We have little now to do, but aggregate the materials 
and bring our superstructure to the requisite dimensions, 
or build upon both the exterior and interior of this spheri- 
cal shell until we have attained the needed strength, or a 
sufficiency of ethereal atoms that will give the required 
strength when materialized. We should do precisely 
the same thing if we had ability to build a huge animal, 
or a tree, or any other object that nature has seemed to 
form by her silent processes. In order to accomplish 
this great object, it is quite plain, that all the materials 
must be extremely negative and inactive, in order to be 
handled and controlled by spiritual beings ; and of course, 
to bring them out of that condition, and elaborate all 
the latent powers they contain, the great positive force, 
magnetism, must be applied and brought into conjunc- 
tion with this mass of electric matter. 

It has become necessary, in the materialization of this 
negative accumulation, to work a radical change to a 
more positive condition, in which the primary elements 



380 RECONSTRUCTION. 

existing in nature may become more apparent. So in 
the progress of the ever-rolling ages, by a judicious 
application of this positive power, a vast portion of the 
negative particles lying contiguous to the outer and 
inner surfaces of this shell, are elaborated and gradually 
changed to that substance familiarly termed granite 
rock, which in itself is known to contain all the primal 
elements that are found to exist in the mineral kingdom. 
It will be discovered by the student of nature, that this 
power which, by an excessive application, is able to dis- 
solve all substances, may also be called into requisition, 
for the purpose of evolution and formation. If magnet- 
ism, this prince of positive agents, has combined with 
electricity in the negative materials composing the globe, 
in the production of the granite rock, it is no marvel 
that our geologists and other savans discover indications 
of the action of such great heat, as to lead them to the 
conclusion that this rock had been formed by cooling 
from a molten mass, instead of having been produced 
from the coldest possible elemental substances. 

It is said by modern geologists, that two active agents 
have been introduced, in the early formation of the 
various rocks, and that they have exerted their activities 
and influences in bringing the earth to its present con- 
ditions. Fire and water, they say, have produced all 
the wonders we behold; those two elements have ex- 
erted their powers in modifying all material substances, 
from the gaseous or nebulous condition up to the present, 
when the earth is clothed with a beauty and magnificence 
that astonishes the mind of the beholder. Fire and 
water are evidently not primal causes, but rather, effects 
that have been produced, and depend upon certain con- 



RECONSTRUCTION. 381 

ditions for their existence. Fire is a positive element, 
and always when in activity exhausts its own resources, 
and would soon destroy itself if not supplied with com- 
bustible material upon which it may exist. 

We defy the combined ingenuity of all the scientific 
men who live, to devise any means by which fire can be 
kept in activity for any length of time, without the 
needed fuel; and, if the existence of fire is dependent 
upon conditions, then there must have been some power 
or agent by which those conditions were produced, that 
made it possible for fire to exist; hence, we learn that 
fire is but a subordinate element, and could not have 
been one of the primal agents that produced the various 
modifications. Again, if fire cannot be kept in activity 
without a continual supply of combustible food, who has 
furnished the required amount, during all the millions 
of ages, necessary to modify the etherealized or gaseous 
substance of which our earth is composed, and pass it 
through its various changes? 

Water is but a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, 
and like fire has been produced by some antecedent 
cause, and of course, as a power it occupies the same 
subordinate position as fire. Those two important ele- 
ments in nature doubtless have exerted their influences, 
but it is quite evident that forces far superior to them 
have been required to act upon rarefied substances such 
as are brought into requisition in the construction of 
worlds, in order to transform those substances into a 
more materialized condition. There seem to be strong 
indications in the granite rocks, that lead geologists to 
suppose they have been acted upon by fire; indeed the 
evidences are so plainly impressed, that they have been 



382 RECONSTRUCTION. 

unhesitatingly termed the igneous rocks; and this fact 
has seemed to strengthen thfe-idea that they are produced 
by the cooling and solidifying of an interior mass of 
molten lava. It is also supposed by some learned geol- 
ogists, that large quantities of this molten lava are from 
time to time being erupted through the various craters, 
which they say are but chimneys that communicate with 
the great mass within the crust. The inquiry, then, 
arises — why this molten lava does not become granite 
rock, after having been thrown from the various volca- 
noes; as it is a well-known fact, that all the different 
varieties of solidified lava differ as widely from granite, 
as limestone, slate, sandstone, or any other of the sedi- 
mentary rocks. Why would not this homogeneous mass 
form the same substance when cooled upon the outside, 
as when cooled inside the crust? 

Where is the propriety of calling upon that gross 
element fire, to accomplish that which can be done so 
much more easily by the sublimated and concentrated 
spiritual essence of the grosser fluid called fire? We 
think the day is not distant when our philosophers will 
call upon powers that are able to perform the labor they 
discover has been accomplished, and not wake up a 
puling infant to do that which taxes all the energies of a 
full-grown giant. Fire is very good in its place, and 
has certain very important duties to perform, and a 
wide sphere in which it exerts its powers and influence, 
but when you wish to get up a severe thunder-storm, or 
an earthquake, or manufacture or decompose granite 
rock, you need not call upon fire to accomplish those 
feats; they are entirely out of its province. It will be 
found that we require the great positive and negative 



RECONSTRUCTION, 383 

forces, and with their judicious application, all such 
effects may be produced with much ease, because they 
lie within the jurisdiction of those powers. 

If, then, we have found powers of this character that 
have been in a state of activity since the accumulation 
of this material that composes our globe, we shall find 
a comparatively easy and natural solution of many of 
the apparent phenomena that have evidently existed 
during that lengthy period. If those great powers were 
brought to bear in effecting changes from a negative to 
a more positive condition, then it would appear evident, 
that during all the changes, this globe was continually 
becoming more positive and magnetic. Such being the 
case, during the myriad ages of this transformation 
period, from the negative to the more positive and mate- 
rialized condition of granite rock, there could be noth- 
ing that would hinder excessive accumulations of this 
positive magnetic element upon the surface of our globe, 
and that ultimately it might become a power that w T ould 
prove, to a certain extent, destructive of the very work 
it had been so long engaged in producing. We think, 
upon examination we shall find that such was an abso- 
lute necessity; for if this granite had not been subjected 
to the action of powerful antagonistic elements, it would 
evidently have remained in that condition to all eternity, 
and naught but one wide-spread scene of desolation 
w T ould ever have existed. Thus we see the importance 
of a power that can destroy, as well as produce, and we 
discover that materialization and dissolution has been 
the great business of those positive and negative forces, 
since they were introduced into our world, and from all 
eternity. 



384 RECONSTRUCTION. 

If the granite rock contains all elements that exist 
upon the earth, in a latent condition, we very clearly 
see that there must have been a period when none of the 
elements could have been outside the granite, and hence 
the necessity of bringing a solvent that would disinte- 
grate and dissolve its particles in order that the spiritual 
essences might escape. So we perceive that out of this 
death came forth life, or by a dissolution of the particles 
of granite, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon, and 
other spiritual essences, that had been confined, were 
eliminated and set free. Hence there could have been 
no atmosphere or water upon this or any other globe, 
until the original granite was dissolved in sufficient quan- 
tities to allow the escape of those elements; and the 
small amount of air and water that existed in the early 
periods of this dissolving process must have been, not 
only very much heated in consequence of activities suf- 
ficiently powerful to rend in pieces and dissolve such 
large quantities of solid granite, but highly charged 
with sulphurets, phosphates and chlorine, that, render 
them powerful agents in the performance of the great 
work of dissolution. We have little trouble, now, in 
solving the difficult problem of the metamorphic rocks, 
that present such strong evidences of having been sub- 
jected to the action of hot water; neither is there any 
difficulty in conceiving the impossibility of vegetable or 
animal life at this terrible period, when all nature was 
subjected to disintegration by those all-powerful solvents. 

The electro-magnetic fluids were evidentlv in full 
destructive operation, and this terrific work must have 
proceeded through almost interminable periods of time, 
until their own devastations ultimately were productive 



RECONSTRUCTION. 885 

of causes which would hold them in check. It will be 
noticed, that the quantity of gasses productive of atmos- 
phere and water, must have, been constantly accumulat- 
ing, and water being a great receptacle of electricity, this 
negative element was continually increasing in power 
upon the surface of the earth. Consequently, nature 
would again begin to approximate towards an equipoise, 
and we ascertain that the intense heat of the most ter- 
ribly active magnetic period began to some extent to 
abate previous to the earlier ages of the silurian forma- 
tions, so as to admit of the lower forms of organic life 
in the shape of polyps, radiata, etc. 

It w T as doubtless during this lengthy period, when all 
nature was convulsed by the terrific throes of those all- 
powerful clashing elements, to a great distance below 
the surface, that the numerous mountain ranges and 
various protuberances that are found upon the globe 
were upheaved. It was thus that the granite which 
upon the plains is usually so deeply covered by the sedi- 
mentary deposits, may so frequently be found exposed 
upon the tops of the highest mountains. We remark 
upon this subject, that nature has no powers in her vast 
laboratory, sufficient to produce convulsions that will 
ultimate in such tremendous upheavals, except the great 
positive and negative elements, electro-magnetism. It 
is a somewhat singular fact, that most of the mountain 
ranges of any considerable length, are longitudinal, 
from north to south. 

Although we have but little space to devote to this 

part of our subject, the careful geological student will 

be able to trace the gradual changes that have taken 

place during that inconceivably lengthened period of 

33 



386 RECONSTRUCTION. 

time, that must have transpired, from the Cambrian or 
lower silurian up through the various stratifications, 
until we come to the drift or glacial period. He will 
discover that it was one series of transitions of the slow- 
est and most gradual character, from a very highly 
magnetic and positive condition, that was dissolving as 
rapidly as possible the solid granite, and producing the 
accumulating sedimentary formations, also continually 
increasing those elements, hydrogen and oxygen, the 
very home of electricity, until they should finally, in the 
form of water, envelope nearly every portion of the 
entire globe. There is little difficulty in discovering 
why the globe should cool gradually as the waters in- 
creased, until it should finally culminate in those vast 
glacial formations, that are so well known to have ex- 
isted at a certain period upon so large a portion of the 
surface of the earth, and which might have existed until 
the present day, had the same quantity of water re- 
mained upon our globe. 

But, we discover that when it becomes necessary that 
this globular shell should continuously pass through 
changes and modifications that will adapt it to the 
various conditions and* requirements which are to be 
carried out during its history, nature provides the pow- 
ers that will produce those several changes and transi- 
tions, in accordance with her own peculiar methods. 
She has never turned to the right or left for the accom- 
modation of the most eminent philosopher or theologian, 
although they may seem to be clothed with great author- 
ity and power. 

We find a record inscribed upon the tablets of nature's 
great volume, which declares emphatically, that there 



RECONSTRUCTION. 387 

must have been a period of intense heat, -succeeded by 
a gradual cooling process, until water and ice predomi- 
nated upon a large portion of the world's surface, and 
this condition has again been succeeded by an abate- 
ment of the waters and ice, until a large portion of the 
same surface has become temperate and habitable. 
When we find records of such a character, we may be 
assured that causes have existed fully competent to pro- 
duce all the grand results which are so plainly recorded. 
This subject will receive further attention in the chapter 
that treats upon our moon. 

We may notice here briefly, that curious phenomenon 
which has attracted so much attention, and called forth 
so many misguided speculations from the learned, in rela- 
tion to the huge fire within the thin crust of the globe. 
The w T ell-established fact of the increasing temperature 
as we penetrate the crust of the earth, has been consid- 
ered proof positive, that a raging fire existed within, and 
it was only necessary to go deep enough, to find it in all 
its terrible activities. We shall now discover that the 
simple cause of this increasing temperature may be found 
in the electro-magnetic activities; the solution of this 
difficult problem is found in the frictionizing processes 
of those currents as they pass through the different 
stratifications contiguous to the surface. They are the 
vital- fluids of the earth, continually circulating in accord- 
ance with well-established laws, and in fixed channels or 
currents, the same as vital fluids are producing activities 
in the animal or human structures. It is very plain, 
that the more blankets or covering one uses, the more 
this vital heat or caloric is retained in the system. So 
of the earth, — the deeper the covering of non-conducting 



388 RECONSTRUCTION. 

materials over the portion where the heat is generated, 
the more it is retained, until we pass the region of elec- 
tro-magnetic activities, where the temperature falls 
again, and continues to fall until the extreme of cold- 
ness and inactivity are found in the deeper midway 
portions of the spherical shell. 

If we ascertain that effects have been produced which 
entirely baffle our keenest research for an adequate 
cause, we must study more closely the relationship that 
exists between causes and effects, and always look for 
those which are entirely competent to produce the results 
we have discovered. We must remember that feeble 
children can never perform the labor of full-grown ath- 
letic men, neither does nature employ in her workshop, 
the grosser elements to accomplish those high purposes 
that require all the powers of the sublimated essential 
forces. Hence, when philosophers have called upon 
gravitation, fire, and water, to take such a conspicuous 
and important position, in the construction of our world, 
they have made an unwise blunder, and one that will 
excite the laughter and ridicule of those same persons 
when they discover their mistake. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE MOON. 

It becomes almost a necessity, in connection with this 
general subject, to pay some passing respect to our 
nearest neighbor, or that comparatively youthful orb 
that may be properly considered the first-born child of 
our own planet, and who has been a faithful companion 
to this our mother, through all her various vicissitudes, 
during very many long ages of the past. The unwritten 
records, however, fail to communicate to us the exact 
period when its career was commenced, although the first 
author who wrote upon this matter has unhesitatingly 
asserted that it was created the same day, and, that it is 
quite as old as the great parent the sun. He says that 
this little satellite, whose youthful face bears no marks 
of extreme planetary antiquity, is quite as old as any 
of the large magnetic orbs that shine out with such in- 
conceivable lustre in the distant sidereal heavens. But, 
whatever her age may be, there is evidently a very close 
relationship existing between this young planet and our 
own earth, and most of us have been accustomed to look 
out with great interest and admiration upon her pale, 
silver countenance, a portion of every month during our 
lives, and it has become one of the most familiar objects 



390 MOONS. 

that has attended us thus far in our journey, and that 
first impressed itself upon our childish brain. 

It is very evident, that the moon, like all other things 
we behold in this great universe, must have been con- 
structed for very important purposes; as it must have 
received the direct attention of minds sufficiently ad- 
vanced in knowledge and power to project and organize 
the forces and materials that have brought this struc- 
ture up to its present condition. We cannot conceive 
that minds possessing abilities of such a character, can 
bring their power to bear, unless some great purpose is 
to be attained; and we learn at least, that building 
moons would quite likely result in building worlds, for 
a moon certainly appears very much like a Avorld, 
although it may be somewhat diminutive in size. We 
think, however, almost any practical mechanic would 
conclude, that it would be much easier to increase the 
size of a moon, than to build an entire new world of 
larger proportions, and perhaps at some future time we 
shall be permitted to know the exact manner in which 
such worlds may be enlarged. Very much that we said 
in the preceding chapter, in relation to reconstruction, 
will of course apply equally well in this, for we must 
naturally conclude that one general plan is pursued in 
the construction of all worlds, whether great or small. 

We have remarked, in a former part of this work, 
that undoubted evidence exists of a so-called glacial 
period; that, during the various transformations and 
changes which have occurred in the earth's eventful 
history, there must have been a lengthened period when 
a large portion of its surface was covered with ice and 
water. Those who are able to search out and peruse 



MOONS. 391 

carefully the unwritten history of our earth, discover 
very clearly, that there has been upon its surface at a 
comparatively modern geologic period, and for a great 
length of time, a huge reservoir of cold, electric elements. 
They also discover that during the processes of further 
development, this negative element has to a large extent 
disappeared, and given place to a larger amount of 
magnetic or positive forces. 

The overwhelming amount of sedimentary deposits, 
or secondary rocks, prove conclusively that water once 
existed in far greater quantities than at the present, and 
that it must either have retired to deeper recesses in the 
earth's surface, or, what is more probable, have been 
withdrawn for the supply of our secondary or lunar 
attendant, and perhaps we may here gather some light 
concerning that great unsolved mystery, the glacial or 
drift period, when such vast bodies of ice occupied a 
very large portion of both hemispheres. It will be 
entirely unnecessary for us to enter into any lengthy 
description of this period, for such has been done al- 
ready in the most graphic manner, by a great number 
of eminent authors, and >the reader may learn much 
upon this subject, even in many elementary works. 
Suffice it to say, that indubitable evidences exist, both 
in the northern and southern hemispheres, that a large 
portion of our globe, during a certain period, was locked, 
for incalculable ages, in the cold embrace of vast cover- 
ings of superincumbent ice, as well as water, and that, 
subsequently, it has gradually disappeared, leaving but 
a limited extent, or somewhat narrow belts of those gla- 
cial formations, in the higher latitudes, and upon the 
lofty mountain ranges. 



892 moons. 

Where the iee fields have gone, and the cause of 
their disappearance, are questions that have often been 
propounded, but still remain unanswered; still locked up 
in the deepest shadows of mystery and darkness. How- 
ever, we may perceive that the time did arrive, when in 
the processes of our earth's development, it became 
necessary to part with those vast accumulations of cold, 
inactive elements, and, we conclude, our younger sister 
was prepared to receive this great surplus, that had sub- 
served all their purposes upon the earth, and were ready 
to be transported to a place where they were more 
needed. It is quite as important that we should be able 
to read correctly thin page of the earth's history as any 
other that has been recorded upon her tablets. Here 
are presented two prominent facts, perfectly palpable to 
most men who have extended their researches in this 
direction: one is, that the water at a particular period 
covered a largo portion of the temperate zone sufficiently 
deep to float immense icebergs; another is, that the 
water and the icebergs have both subsided. Where has 
this extensive accumulation of elements gone? It is 
quite evident that it must have left the earth altogether, 
for we can find no room, in any of the deep recesses of 
the ocean beds, for such a vast surplus as must have 
existed at that time. It was certainly not needed upon 
the earth, because we have a very large superabundance 
of those elements at the present. Then, what a beau- 
tiful arrangement, if it could have been thus taken to 
supply the wants of a younger satellite. 

What a blessing to our earth, to be able to divest 
itself, and send away all this vast accumulation of ice 
and water that had exerted this chilling influence upon 



moons. 393 

the temperate zones for so many ages in the past; for, 
while it remained, coldness and inactivity held universal 
sway. There are few forms of organic life that could 
have resisted the frigid influences of this wide-spread 
scene of desolation, and while it remained, as a matter 
of course the habitable, or that portion of the globe that 
could have produced vegetable or animal organized forms 
of life, must have been confined to a very narrow zone. 
It was absolutely necessary, in the progressive develop- 
ment of our world, that all the vast ice fields should be 
vaporized and disappear; that the active magnetic ele- 
ments might become more extensively diffused, and a 
wider and still wider extent of territory become prepared 
to furnish life and sustenance for an advancing and 
increasing animated population. We are not permitted 
to know the precise length of time that has transpired 
since the glacial period has passed away, neither does 
any one upon the earth know exactly the age of our 
moon. We have no data that will enable us to compute 
the time by centuries, so as to ascertain the number that 
have existed since the moon was projected, or since the 
vast icebergs floated over many of the northern states, 
freighted with their immense cargoes of detached bowl- 
ders and drift, which they have scattered broadcast 
over such extensive tracts of country. But we seem 
to discover very strong evidences from the records 
that are imprinted upon nature's tablets, by her own 
chirography, that these two great events, that form a 
part of our planetary history, were nearly coeval, and 
that they must have been connected by an intimate 
relationship. An extensive array of facts, gathered 
from different portions of our planetary sys^nu > \M 



394 moons. 

tend to prove that our moon is comparatively a modern 
institution, and another set gathered by observations 
made upon our own globe, would prove conclusively, 
that the drift period belongs to a comparatively modern 
age in the world's geologic history. 

The glacial, or the drift period, seems to have existed 
after all the extensive accumulations of sedimentary 
deposit had been made ; only below the alluvial deposits 
that form the very surface of this globular shell. No 
intelligent person who examines this matter, can doubt 
the palpable, tell-tale indices which prove most conclu- 
sively, that a very extended portion of the temperate 
zones were, for an incalculable length of time, covered 
by terrible accumulations of ice, and thus the frost-king 
held universal sway, where now are to be found innu- 
merable cheerful homes and fruitful fields, populous 
towns and cities, with all their business and varied activ- 
ities, and the ten thousand concomitants of prosperity 
and plenty. And if we take a cursory survey of our 
own planetary s} T stem, we shall find that most of the 
exterior planets are attended hj more than one of these 
lunar bodies, and that they seem to revolve around the 
parents, in orbits at various distances, in accordance 
with their different ages and growth. 

Some of the moons connected with the exterior and 
older planets in our solar system, corresponding very 
nearly in size and diameter of orbit with our own, are 
doubtless very near the same age; while others, revolv- 
ing in far larger orbits, and very much superior in size, 
must be correspondingly older. The exterior moon of 
Saturn is supposed to be nearly the size of Mars, and 
revolt s in an orbit nearly two and a half million miles 



moons. 395 

distant from that planet ? and doubtless, if we could be- 
come fully acquainted with all the planets and satellites 
in our solar system, we might discover moons larger than 
our own earth, with attendant satellites revolving around 
them. It has been extremely difficult, even with the 
best telescopes in use, to form correct ideas concerning 
the moons of Uranus, and almost impossible to make 
any discovery concerning the moons of Neptune, which 
are so far beyond. Then we may naturally conclude, 
that in the vast unexplored fields lying within the limits 
of our own solar system, still beyond Neptune, may be 
a number of far older planets that are surrounded by 
families of moons, in a highly developed condition, that 
may for centuries to come remain entirely beyond the 
view of the most powerful lenses that will be produced 
by the inventive genius of men. 

We think, now, the reader has no doubt discovered, 
by attention to the preceding pages, a few important 
points, which he may group together, and arrive at a 
tolerably safe conclusion concerning our own satellite. 
First. That all worlds are projected as moons or satel- 
lites, and that they are usually composed of negative or 
electric materials. Secondly. That our moon has a 
general appearance of planetary youthfulness. Thirdly. 
That our earth presents the strongest indications, that, 
at a comparatively modern period, there had collected 
upon its surface, a superabundance of the most electric 
material in the form of water and ice. Fourthly. That 
this negative material, the very article that was required 
in the construction of a new planet, has, for some inex- 
plicable reason, passed entirely from the earth, where it 
formerly existed, and the climate has become more tern- 



396 moons. 

perate and genial; and, Fifthly. There are evidently 
now existing powerful reciprocal influences between our 
earth and the moon, and consequently there must be 
strong sympathetic cords in the shape of electric currents 
that bind the two together, as well as all other planets 
and satellites in our solar system. We think it will 
become plain to the most careless observer, that there 
could have been no kind of difficulty in transporting the 
surplus ice and water, in the form of vapor or electricity, 
upon those currents to the new-born planet that was ever 
to be an attendant in all our protracted journeys through 
the immensity of space. 

It would seem that, although nature, in her great labo- 
ratory, must contain an equilibrium of elemental forces, 
yet not unfrequently either the positive or negative may 
appear to gain the entire preponderance in working out 
her grand purposes, and apparently carry things to great 
extremes. Thus, during that very extended period when 
the solid granite was breaking up and being dissolved 
under powerful electro-magnetic, disintegrating influ- 
ences, the process seemed to continue to an unnecessa- 
rily lengthened duration. This labor evidently went 
forward until it had released a sufficient^ quantity of 
negative materials to operate as a check upon its future 
progress; and, although the dissolving process seemed 
to be carrying matters to a wonderful extent, yet, when 
we discover the objects had in view, we can but admire 
the beauty and harmony of the arrangement. It would 
be extremely difficult for us to devise any other mode 
by which the necessary elements could have been engen- 
dered, with which the new-born world might be supplied 
with sufficient materials to make a start in life. Thus 



moons. 397 

we may partially discover how seeming evils destroy 
their own power and influence, and finally ultimate in 
positive good. Had not such excessive and powerful 
positive influences been brought to bear in the dissolu- 
tion of inconceivably vast quantities of the granitic sur- 
face of the globe, until it passed through all the changes 
from very great heat to the excessive cold of the glacial 
period, and until nearly the whole surface was covered 
by one vast expanse of water, then we should have had 
no proper material to have furnished an infant planet, 
and most probably, we should have had no attendant 
moon to cheer and enliven the gloom of night, and ren- 
der tolerable that portion of earthly existence; for this 
new planet could not have commenced its career of glory 
among the heavenly bodies. 

We are apprehensive, that this view of the subject will 
illuminate many very dark pages in the geologic history 
of our own globe, which have puzzled the brains of the 
ardent student of nature, for it is not only extremely 
difficult, but absolutely impossible, to account, upon any 
other hypothesis that has ever been established, for the 
various transitions from heat to cold, and then to a more 
genial climate again in the northern temperate zone, and 
also the great climatic changes that have taken place in 
the arctic regions, which sometimes give rise to the fool- 
ish idea that the polar axis of the globe, as well as the 
polar circles, have changed periodically from one posi- 
tion to another. There can scarcely be a doubt, judg- 
ing from the influence now exerted by the frozen belt 
that still exists at the north upon the climate of a vast 
region lying contiguous, that the great glacial period 
of the past must have extended its influences to the 
34 



398 moons. 

equatorial regions, and caused an almost entire destruc- 
tion of all but those animals that endure the rigors of 
winter, and that, if tropical animals existed at all during 
that period, they must have been confined to a very nar- 
row zone. 

Thus, we perceive, there must have been extended 
ages when the sun exerted very little influence upon a 
great portion of the temperate zones, because the elec- 
trical elements again preponderated, and the condition 
of things was such within the atmosphere, as to render 
the sun's positive influences negative; or, rather, there 
were not in our surroundings sufficient positive elements 
to affinitize and be wakened into activity by any influ- 
ences of this great luminous body. Hence we discover, 
that our climate depends upon the character and condi- 
tion of our own inherent powers, much more than upon 
any influences that are coming directly to us from the 
great luminous body in the centre. 

Now, if it was, in the ages of the past, in order to aid 
in the unfoldment of our planet, necessary to take away 
a large amount of the accumulatiQns of negative or cold 
element in the form of ice and water, then it will doubt- 
less be necessary, in view of the future development of 
our world, to devise means for carrying off very large 
surplus quantities of the cold elements that still remain; 
and that continue, by their chilling influence, to render 
comparatively worthless very large portions of the ter- 
ritory of both the northern and southern hemispheres. 
Any person, by glancing at the map of the world, can 
ascertain the fact, that nearly one-half the continent of 
North America, and vast portions of northern Europe 
and Asia, are rendered almost useless and uninhabitable, 



moons. 399 

by the cold and inhospitable climate that prevails, while 
perhaps the soil and other advantages may be fully equal, 
and in many instances superior, to the more favored and 
temperate climes. It would appear evident that those 
vast tracts of country cannot be destined for all time, by 
the supreme powers that seem to control matters apper- 
taining to our world, to produce little except bears and 
foxes and a dwarfed growth of fir trees. We have suffi- 
cient of this territory in North America to supply the 
necessities of hundreds of millions of human beings, if but 
the climate could be ameliorated. Can we suppose it is 
to remain in this same forbidding and frozen condition 
for all time ? or are those vast uninhabitable fields to be 
opened, and made to bud and blossom as the rose, and 
the waste places to be built up — to be blessed with a 
genial and pleasant climate, and furnish happy homes 
for untold millions of the human race, with their flocks 
and herds, and^all the appurtenances of an advanced 
civilization? 

We can easily perceive, if we look over the face of our 
globe, that we have negative element left, sufficient to 
supply the wants of at least two or three more moons, 
and the sooner a portion of this surplus electricity is 
removed, the better for the globe. We have not only 
the large and extended glacial formations actually exist- 
ing at the higher north and south latitudes, and upon 
our mountain ranges, but we have yet a very great 
surplus of water. When we consider that nearly three- 
fourths of the earth's surface is covered with this ele- 
ment, we may readily discover that we have no possible 
use for this excessive quantity, and that we only hold it 
in reserve for the use of those satellites that are to be 



400 MOONS. 

produced in the ages of the future. It may prove dis- 
astrous to private interests to take away a thousand feet 
from the surface of the oceans. It might change the 
conditions of our maritime cities by extending the shore 
lines of the continents perhaps far out to sea, but it 
would necessarily enlarge the continents, and the islands 
also, and doubtless connect many of them together, thus 
producing new continents where now are but a few scat- 
tered isles in the midst of the ocean. Taking this view 
of the subject, we cannot entertain a doubt but such a 
disposal of a large portion of the negative elements now 
existing upon the earth would promote the general in- 
terest, and be of vast service to the human race, as it 
would ultimately change a very large extent of this wide 
waste of waters to fruitful fields, and most effectually 
reclaim all the low, marshy deltas in the world, and 
perhaps add one-fourth to the superficial area of the 
habitable globe. 

Now, we may ask, with some degree of propriety, 
how this necessary improvement can be made and this 
step taken in the development of our world, unless by 
some means this excess of electric material is transferred 
to some new-made globe or satellite; for, what else can 
be done with the large amount of water and ice, which 
appear entirely unnecessary, even at the present time, 
upon this our planet. This cold element very evidently 
is retarding instead of advancing our progressive unfold- 
ment as a world. Wherever and whenever extreme cold 
prevails, all things are effectually locked in its frozen 
embrace. No move can be made in the direction of 
improvement and progress until the cold, electric influ- 
ences are removed, and conditions are rendered more 



MOONS. 401 

magnetic and active. Hence, we very plainly discover, 
that before our planet can arrive at any high condition 
of development, the climate must be equalized from pole 
to pole, and hence the preponderating amount of arctic 
and antarctic electricity must be removed, as well as the 
great excess of watery element, that now covers so very 
large a portion of the superficial area of the globe. The 
reader may not be surprised, if we should modestly an- 
nounce the fact, that this matter has long since received 
the attention of the inhabitants of the higher spheres, 
and that they have already provided a receptacle for a 
certain portion of the excess of electric material, and 
that a new lunar attendant for our earth has already 
been established, whose orbit is about 100,000 miles 
distant from our planet, or about 20,000 nearer than 
the youngest and interior moon of the planet Saturn. 
Our young moon of course is not sufficiently material- 
ized to be discovered by unaided vision, however, before 
a single century passes away, we dare predict it will be 
generally known that our earth has another satellite to 
accompany her in all her wanderings, and to render still 
more cheerful the evenings of all the future generations, 
until our great mother shall so far unfold her inherent 
powers, as to be entirely independent of outside influ- 
ences for the light her children require. 

It is supposed that the new-born satellite which is now 
in process of formation, will absorb the great amount 
of cold element now existing in the arctic regions, and a 
portion of that in the south or antarctic; that it will also 
absorb a very large quantity of the waters of the ocean, 
and thus extend all coast lines more or less, and bring 
to view a large area of land now covered by water; and 



402 MOONS. 

that by dissipating the cold of the northern polar regions, 
it will again partially restore that climate once enjoyed 
there, when it produced and sustained tropical animal 
and vegetable life. 

We have scrupulously avoided advancing any idea, or 
adopting any theory as authoritative, solely because the 
invisible spirit intelligences have taught such ideas or 
theories; we have invariably presented them because they 
also seemed to our minds best supported by evidences 
that are absolutely found in the great store-house of 
nature. We present this theory concerning the form- 
ation of our moon, and all other moons that may exist 
in the solar system to which we are attached, then, sim- 
ply because we conceive it to be the most rational view 
of the subject ever given to the world. We claim that 
the worlds are not all yet built, because we plainly dis- 
cover that the present era must be right in the midst of 
the great cycles of time, that there must be just as much 
time in the future as there has been in the past, and that 
all the laws and powers which have been so productive 
of worlds in the past, are in full activity in the present, 
and must so continue in the future. Hence, the future 
must be quite as productive in this branch of mechanism 
as the past, and new worlds must be continually brought 
into existence. 

We claim, and we need not stop to repeat a single 
argument upon that portion of the subject, that all 
worlds are mechanical in their movements, and in the 
appropriate disposition of the materials from which they 
are composed; and hence, they must have required a 
vast amount of mechanical skill and ability in their con- 
struction. It is extremely difficult for us to discover 



MOONS. 403 

how an intelligent mind can conceive the idea, that so 
complex a piece of machinery as a world like ours cou'd 
have arranged itself during all its various modifications 
and differentiations, entirely unaided by an intelligent 
management of the forces which have evidently been 
used in the accomplishment of the grand result. None 
but the positive school will attempt to sustain such a 
view of the matter. But we doubt not, the Christian 
world will howl forth their usual anathemas and derision 
at any suggestion of this character. The faintest 
thought that their infinite Jehovah is to be released to 
any extent frcm the infinite labor of projecting and 
constructing all the globes, will doubtless bring down 
showers of indignation and wrath upon the unhappy 
mortal who could have had the temerity to advance an 
idea so fraught with danger to the thinking world. Yet 
the simple question and the only issue will be, have all 
the worlds been constructed by a single infinite intelli- 
gent personality, or by infinite numbers of finite intelli- 
gent beings ? We conceive this to be an issue of vast 
importance, and cannot doubt but in man's progressive 
history, public opinion will be wonderfully modified in 
relation to this subject. 

We take occasion to remark, before leaving this sub- 
ject, that one of the most awkward and clumsy scientific 
conclusions that ever gained universal credence, has an 
intimate relationship with this young planet. We mean 
our present widely accepted theory concerning the 
oceanic tidal phenomena, to which we have made some 
allusion in a previous chapter. The oceanic tides are 
supposed to be governed entirely by the power of recip- 
rocal gravitation, which power is communicated from 



*04 MOONS. 

one planet to anther. Thus, the gravitating force at- 
tached to the sun and the moon reach out the strong 
arms of their power, exert an influence over the waters 
of the ocean, and attract them to a limited extent to- 
wards themselves. It will be discovered, in order to do 
this successfully, it is necessary that this foreign attrac- 
tion should altogether overcome that which naturally 
belongs to the planet, where the tidal wave occurs. 
Again, it is obvious that this so-called attraction must 
operate in a most singular manner, for when it is high 
tide at any given point upon the globe, it is also high 
tide at a point exactly opposite. Hence we learn, that 
this attraction draws with equal force contiuually in 
both directions. But science accounts for this strange 
anomaly by claiming that the moon attracts the water 
from the earth, upon the side towards herself, and that 
she attracts the earth from the waters that are situated 
upon the opposite hemisphere. 

We very much doubt whether any philosopher or 
teacher of this theory concerning the tidal phenomena, 
has ever been fully satisfied of its real truthfulness. One 
thing is very clear; very many men of learning have 
expressed their want of confidence, and entire dissent, 
but none thus far have seemed to elaborate a theory that 
is able to take precedence, and it is not our purpose to 
do so either, in the brief allusion we can make to this 
difficult subject. We barely suggest that, if it is possible 
to find a motive power sufficeint to move the world, it 
would not seem difficult to find one quite adequate to 
perforin the trifling task, of causing the tidal waves to 
pass in their order around the globe. 

Newton conceived a similar idea, and saw quite 



MOONS. 405 

clearly that the power that could propel a world in its 
orbit could readily perform this much smaller task. 
But, as we think, having made an error in the applica- 
tion of dynamic forces in the one case, he made the 
same error in the other. Had he found the great mov- 
ing power that could have given momentum to the globe, 
without the aid of a God to introduce the initial move- 
ment, he would doubtless have been able to have applied 
the same force more successfully in the production of 
the tides. We doubt not, that when we come fully to 
understand the operations and influences of the electro- 
magnetic forces, this tidal phenomena will become quite 
plain, and the difficult problem will be very easily solved. 
We may barely suggest, and in fact we feel quite strongly 
impressed with the idea, that the action of the waters of 
the ocean, causing the ebb and flow of the tides, is pro- 
duced by two separate electro-magnetic batteries; the 
one formed by our connection with the sun, and the 
other by our connection with the moon. The two bat- 
teries are doubtless entirely distinct and separate in 
their operations and influences, the lunar battery operat- 
ing far more powerfully upon the waters of the ocean 
than the solar battery. We may discover, if we accept 
this hypothesis, the important fact that the solar battery 
operates more powerfully upon the positive elements 
attached to our earth, while the lunar battery exerts the 
more powerful influence upon the negative elements. 
Thus we perceive that the earth's reciprocal influence in 
connection with these two batteries would be to produce 
the larger tides upon the sun, and the lesser upon the 
moon. 

If the tides were absolutely produced by gravitating 



406 MOONS. 

force. we discover at once, that the sun's tides "would neces- 
sarily be overwhelmingly larger than those of the moon: 
as the sun is five hundred times larger than all the plan- 
ets of the solar system, and is said to exert a gravitating 
influence that controls the whole machine from centre 
to circumference. How then could those learned men 
induce the great central controlling orb to exert so little 
gravitating powers upon the waters of the oceans at- 
tached to this globe? The easy, natural reply to this 
question lies in the fact that the waters of the ocean are 
indebted to quite different powers for their tidal activi- 
ties, and we trust that there may now be some prospect 
that this extremely difficult problem may find a satisfac- 
tory solution. If we adopt the hypothesis that electro- 
magnetic force is brought to bear in producing the various 
movements of the heavenly bodies, then we shall very 
naturally conclude that the same forces are brought to 
bear in the movement of the waters in this respect, but 
we shall leave each party to make the application of the 
forces in his own manner. We think, however, no one 
who gives this subject a thought, will experience any 
difficulty in finding all the necessary elements in nature's 
great storehouse, from which batteries may be erected, 
fully competent to perform all this labor in a most satis- 
factory manner. 

We shall now be compelled to leave this portion of our 
subject, and doubtless very many readers will feel dis- 
appointment because we have not given, during our 
treatise upon the physical structure of the globe, a more 
graphic description of that interior world which we claim 
hafl an existence. We can simply say it would not have 
been very instructive if we had, even if we could have 



MOONS. 407 

given by clairvoyant vision, or spirit teaching, an accu- 
rate description of an interior world, such as would be 
found truthful when explored, it would be found of little 
profit to the reader. The object of this work thus far 
has been to show that nothing can be found upon our 
globe that is incompatible with the idea of an inner 
as well as an outer world, — to show that the earth must 
necessarily be constructed in the form of a spherical 
shell, with an inner as well as an outer surface. We 
have endeavored to prove that no law exists in nature 
that would be in the least antagonistic to this idea, and 
that all the analogies in the universe conspire to support 
this grand theory. We leave the reader to judge how 
well we have accomplished our purpose. We acknowl- 
edge ourselves indebted entirely, for the reasoning in 
the preceding pages, to the spiritual directors who sug- 
gested the writing of the work. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

VISION. 

The eye being the most delicate and sensitive portion 
of the physical organization, must necessarily be com- 
posed of the finest and most sublimated materials. It 
cannot bear contact with gross particles without pain 
and uneasiness, hence its component elements must be 
vastly finer than those of other organs, because such 
contact would produce no pain upon other parts of the 
system. It is one of the most remarkable mechanical 
contrivances of which we have any knowledge; without 
its aid, humanity would be perfectly powerless, they 
could not supply their own wants, and would conse- 
quently cease to exist in a short period. The lenses are 
so remarkably formed that we see through them, without 
any re-adjustment, at all distances from a few inches to 
the farthest visible star, and all visible objects at those 
various distances are alike reflected upon the retina, and 
the impression carried to the brain through the same 
lenses by nature's own adjustment. If we use any arti- 
ficial lens we must adjust them f o suit the eye and the 
greater or lesser distance of the object. However pene- 
trating the human vision may be, there is a limit beyond 
which it cannot reach, either out into the broad expanse, 
or down into the infinitesimal realms. 



vision. 409 

We understand that telescopic and microscopic lenses 
have revealed to our astonished vision worlds upon worlds 
hitherto unknown, both in the far-off regions of space 
entirely beyond the range of the natural eye, and also 
down in the infinitesimal realms where objects are so 
diminutive as to escape our most piercing glances, and 
we readily perceive, there must be still unlimited fields 
of unexplored territory upon which this department of 
science may exercise its increasing accumulations of 
knowledge. Without doubt, vast undiscovered wonders 
may yet be found beyond the reach of the best fashioned, 
most powerful lenses now T in use. There are inconceiv- 
able unsurveyed regions out in the immensity of the uni- 
verse, as well as in the infinitesimal depths where dwell 
the animalculse and the most sublimated particles of 
matter. Can w r e suppose that human skill and genius 
in this department, have culminated in the attainments 
of the present age, and that the most powerful lenses 
have already been manufactured? That cannot be. 
Instruments of greater and still greater power will no 
doubt be produced extending further and still further 
in both directions. Generations to come must continue 
to enjoy as adequate room for the active exercise of all 
their organs as those of the past who have revealed such 
astounding facts in this field of research ; or, for the want 
of the needed activity, organs of this character would 
cease to perform their proper functions, and this portion 
of human nature would evidently cease to exist. 

But, there is a spiritual telescopic and microscopic 
vision which goes beyond the material, that reaches in- 
conceivably further than comes within the view of the 
finest and most powerful glasses human ingenuity has 
35 



410 vision. 

ever yet produced; and, it is not too much to think, that 
many individuals possess, to a greater or less extent, this 
spiritual vision. In fact, we may safely say, the germs 
of this vision are found in all persons. We may almost 
as well doubt our own senses as to doubt the fact of 
clairvoyant vision, which is simply bringing into activity 
the interior organs, or those we shall use when we have 
passed the boundaries of mortal life. It is simply that 
vision which appertains to the spirit within us, that is 
more powerful and sees under different conditions, and 
at greater distances than the material eye; it is that 
vision which comes to the aid of the somnambulist, and 
enables him to perform such astonishing feats in the 
darkness, with eyes closed to all external objects. 

Books of travel, history, and descriptive scenery, 
would be of little interest, were there no interior vision 
to be opened to the scenes described, and did they not 
make a sort of living impression upon those organs, we 
certainly could receive no particular benefit from such 
works. If they are well and properly written, they con- 
vey mind-pictures, and transfer us back to the time and 
place of the transactions, and give us a view of the sur- 
roundings. What can a Livingstone or a Du Chaillu 
give us but the spirit of the stirring scenes they encoun- 
ter, and describe so graphically as existing in the va- 
rious portions of Africa. What could a Rubens or a Van- 
dyke transfer to the canvas but the spirit of scenes they 
portray so vividly, which command so much admiration? 
And, but for the spirit they have discovered, and are, 
by their genius, enabled to place upon the canvas, their 
works would possess no value. Thus, all works of art, 
and much of literature, would ho worthless, unless there 



VISION. 411 

was a spirit in them, and we have, within ourselves, a 
power of vision by which we can discover that spirit. 
This is one method by which we can appreciate their 
true value. So, we discover that in spirit we may travel 
to the remote corners of the world, and visit the re- 
nowned cities and countries, not only of modern but of 
ancient times. 

We do not propose to write a philosophical treatise 
upon the eye. Such may be found already in profusion ; 
a-nd we could not improve upon them if we wished. We 
are to take an entirely different view of this matter. We 
observe that human vision no doubt has quite a uniform 
range, and that the size and form of objects are very 
similar, or present very similar impressions to different 
minds, beheld by various eyes. There is little doubt 
but the house, the tree, the man, or any other object, 
may appear to one individual vision very nearly the 
same, as to size, form and color, as they do to other 
persons who possess the organs in a normal condition. 
But, we discover that, all through the whole range of 
animated nature, almost every living being, from the 
smallest to the greatest, are endowed with this power 
of vision, and that it must of necessity be adapted to the 
various conditions and surroundings in which this great 
variety of living organisms are placed. For instance, 
the eagle that soars aloft and looks down from the aerial 
regions upon its destined prey, requires a very differ- 
ently constructed eye, and a different range of vision, 
from the ox that feeds in the pasture, and whose eye is 
always in close proximity to his food, and naturalists 
inform us that each one has an eye suited to their widely 
different conditions. The eye of the eagle is so con- 



412 vision. 

structed as to see from afar; it takes in a long range, 
while that of the ox is very short in its range, and he 
may be considered somewhat near-sighted. Change 
these visions, snd place the eye of the ox in the head 
of the eagle, and the bird would starve to death; for, it 
could not see its natural food until it had approached 
within a very few feet, and most probably the hare or 
other prey, in that case would not remain to be devoured. 
Upon the other hand, the ox could with difficulty discern 
whether the food he was cropping was suited to his ne- 
cessities. 

We have remarked that there was a limit to human 
vision ; that there was a point down in the realms of the 
infinitesimal, beyond which the unaided eye could not 
penetrate. However, we find within the limits of na- 
ture's boundaries, materials from which may be manu- 
factured lenses that entirely change and modify this 
power, so that objects when observed through such 
lenses, are apparently enlarged or magnified, and by 
this means we are enabled to penetrate further into 
those realms, and behold what was unknown to us before. 
It will appear evident, then, when this fact first became 
known to the world, a great principle was established, 
that may have been overlooked by scientific men, even 
up to the present time, — and that is, size and distance 
are relative terms, and are measured and computed upon 
a fixed standard, which is made to accord precisely to 
that of the human vision. For, we discover at once, if 
there are materials in this universe out of which we may 
manufacture lenses that will entirely change and modify 
our vision, so that objects will appear much larger than 
when beheld by the natural eye; then, if all eyes had 



vision. 413 

been composed of such materials, and constructed in 
manner and form like the magnifying lenses, it would 
follow that the standard of human vision would have 
been very different from what it now is, and all men 
would have beheld all objects very much enlarged com- 
pared with the size they now behold them. 

If w T e take a glass that magnifies a hundred times, in 
looking through one end, we find the object to be a hun- 
dred times larger then when beheld by the natural eye, 
but when we turn the other end, we behold the object 
proportionately smaller. We find, then, materials in 
this world, which, when placed in proper form, produce 
these two different results, and w T e discover, that if all 
men, from all time, had been compelled to have beheld 
all things through one or the other end of this glass, 
they would have formed a very different estimate of the 
size of the objects beheld, from that recognized by the 
ordinary human vision. Again, suppose one-half the 
human family were compelled to look through one end 
of the glass, and to see objects magnified a hundred 
times, while the other half were compelled to behold 
them through the other, and see them proportionately 
diminished, what vast differences of opinion would neces- 
sarily result between the two parties, in relation to the 
size of all the objects beheld? We think, then, we shall 
be compelled to admit, that it is very much if not "all 
in the eye, ,, in relation to many things that we behold 
here upon the earth. 

There can be no doubt but the human eye, as a me- 
chanical structure, approximates as near perfection as 
any other thing of a material character that has ever 
been executed in the great work-shop of the natural 



414 vision. 

universe, but, it is quite evident that the skill and wis- 
dom brought to bear in its construction could have pro- 
duced an eye with a somewhat different range of vision; 
one that might have beheld objects either larger or 
smaller than our general standard. Because, it is very 
evident that, within the realms of animated nature, eyes 
must exist, in which may be found very different lenses, 
and perhaps formed of somewhat different materials from 
those used in the human race. Ours are admirably 
adapted to our condition, but our conditions and circum- 
stances are widely different" from that of the owl, who 
seeks its natural aliment in the darkness of night, or the 
mole, that has its habitation and employment under the 
earth's surface, or the animalcule, that requires to be 
magnified a thousand diameters before it can be recog- 
nized by human vision. All these conditions are widely 
different, and doubtless widely different lenses are re- 
quired to m«et their various wants, and to subserve all 
their different purposes. The animalcule is said by 
naturalists to possess a great variety of organs, among 
which may be found those of vision, and we discover at 
once, that the lenses, and most probably the material 
used, must be vastly different from those introduced into 
the human eye. As a visual organ, constructed upon a 
principle well adapted to the human race, would evi- 
dently be of very little service to the animalcule, as he 
would have to be magnified a thousand times his own 
bulk before he could see himself. Thus we learn that 
an eye formed and constructed upon that principle would 
by no means answer the purposes of the little creature. 
They must be provided with eyes with which they can 
discern their food, which must be proportionately smaller 



vision. 415 

than themselves, for animals, no matter what their size, 
seldom swallow anything larger than their own bulk, as 
they would evidently be quite unable to contain that 
which exceeds their own dimensions. Then, we learn, 
that they require lenses that will magnify a thousand 
diameters beyond ours, and vastly more, that they may 
be able to discern objects sufficiently minute to serve 
their purposes as food. 

We shall find, then, that microscopic lenses abound 
in nature's realms, and instead of being an absolute in- 
vention, they are simply, like many other things of that 
character, an imitation of what already exists, and has 
so existed from all eternity; for, it is clear that all 
the inhabitants of the infinitesimal worlds that are out 
of the range of human vision, must be provided with 
microscopic eyes or lenses in order to subserve any of 
the purposes of vision. It is by no means probable that 
artificial glasses have been constructed that will reach 
down to the most minute forms of organized life, then it 
will be impossible for us to contemplate the power of 
those lenses that must be introduced into the delicate 
eyes of the animalcule that inhabit the realms entirely 
beyond the boundaries of our microscopic vision, or that 
which we have produced at the present period. For the 
power of the lenses introduced into the minutest animal- 
cule that has been discovered by our microscopic lenses, 
must, in magnifying properties, go vastly beyond the 
power of the lens that is barely able to discern the ani- 
malcule itself, in order that its vision should subserve 
any practical purpose. Thus we discover that, if it was 
possible to place microscopic vision, with such immense 
magnifying power in the animalculae that are so vastly 



416 vision. 

below the reach of our eyes — and we must admit 
the fact, if we admit they have vision that is of any 
practical benefit to them, — then it would have been 
quite possible to have constructed larger eyes upon 
the same plan, with the same material, and the same 
fashioned lenses; and if such had- been the case, 
then we discover that all material objects would have 
presented a very different appearance. So we may 
learn, that the appearance of the object depends en- 
tirely upon the character of the eye with which it is 
beheld. If our vision was like some others — micro- 
scopic in its character — then all things would be pro- 
portionately larger, and if it was telescopic to a given 
extent, then all things would seem proportionally nearer; 
so we shall learn, at some time, that size and distance 
are relative terms, and that there can be no standard 
for their computation, except the peculiar vision through 
which they are discerned. 

We say this globe we inhabit, is about 8,000 miles in 
diameter, and approximates 25,000 miles in circumfer- 
ence, and that a mile is so many rods, and a rod so 
many feet, and a foot so many inches, and we think we 
have the thing ciphered down so that it becomes abso- 
lute, and, that no intelligence in this wide universe 
can dispute with any propriety our measurement. For 
such dimensions are known to be a well-established 
verity, accepted by all intelligent men; but, we shall 
ascertain that the standard of this measurement is based 
entirely upon the peculiar construction of the human 
vision. Just take out this eye, and substitute a differ- 
ent kind of lens, perhaps composed of a little different 
material, and formed upon a little different plan, and 



vision. 417 

you would be compelled to measure again, and make 
another computation, to ascertain the size and dimen- 
sions of your world, because you are beholding it with 
an entirely different vision. If the animalcule, with this 
powerful microscopic vision, which we discover it must 
possess, should reside in the smallest flower or find a 
home upon the leaf of the minutest plant, it would still 
have a wide world of its own, in which it could carry 
out all the purposes for which it is designed, by the 
power and wisdom that directs and governs. It would 
have as ample scope, to perform all its functions, in 
that little flower, or upon that leaf, as we have in this 
world of ours — as we see its world would be enlarged 
by its power of seeing, and so would ours if we possessed 
the same character of vision with the animalcule. 

"He that formeth the eye, shall he not see?" and it 
is very generally supposed that a being who was compe- 
tent to construct such a curious piece of workmanship, 
must be infinitely wise and powerful, or in other words 
must possess all the wisdom and power of all beings. 
But this is not necessarily the case, for we discover that 
eyes constitute but a small portion of this universe, and 
that, like other mechanical contrivances, they are formed 
in endless variety, and adapted to an inconceivable num- 
ber of different conditions, and used in a great variety 
of ways. They are of all sizes and colors, and the cor- 
neas, the pupils, and the retinas, have a thousand differ- 
ent forms; and it would appear evident, that some of 
all these endless varieties would require more skill in 
their construction than others, and that an intelligence 
might be competent to construct some of the many vari- 
eties, that could not possibly produce others that are 



418 vision. 

more complicated in their character. But it must be 
conceded, that it would require a spiritual intelligence 
of eminent abilities to construct the simplest form of 
visual organ, for as yet it is not known that any person 
in the form — not even Jesus, who is supposed by so 
many to have possessed supreme power and wisdom, — 
have ever made the attempt, or have ever produced an 
imitation that would serve any kind of purpose. Then 
it will be seen that they must be produced by spiritual 
beings who possess the requisite mechanical skill, and in 
order to construct the numerous varieties, they must 
well understand their adaptation; and suppose it was 
necessary to go down into the infinitesimal world, and 
there form microscopic visions, would it not be abso- 
lutely necessary that they should possess the microscopic 
vision in order to accomplish the work properly? It 
certainly would, for a two-fold reason: first, the artist 
would require a powerfully microscopic vision in order 
to distinguish the particles from which the eye of the 
animalcule must be manufactured; and, secondly, how 
can they obtain an absolute competent knowledge of the 
true nature of the particular vision required, unless they 
are supplied with a far more intensified vision or eye 
than they wish to produce? 

Suppose, now, we should fall back upon the hypothe- 
sis that all those realms were peopled with their incon- 
ceivable retinues of inhabitants, by the infinite wisdom 
and power of one self-existent individual, outside and 
above all nature, who had never come up through the 
infinitesimal realms himself, or had any experience there, 
and had never created any offspring who possessed like 
powers with himself, or abilities to produce any such 



vision. 419 

mechanical structures in accordance with universal laws. 
This one being, in order to possess infinite knowledge, 
must have had a microscopic vision to an infinite extent, 
and this vision must have been required and called into 
action in the creation of all those minute beings. Now, 
as all things worth creating by an infinite God, would 
certainly be worth watching over, caring for and pro- 
tecting, we see plainly that he must have unremittingly 
watched over and attended to the wants of all such be- 
ings personally, or else he must have produced other 
intelligences endowed with the same infinite vision, who 
could have acted in this capacity in his stead, because 
it is evident that this portion of animated nature is 
receiving continual attention from some intelligence 
endowed with the requisite vision. Although this widely 
received hypothesis of a single, infinite, personal creator 
of all visible and invisible things, is entirely preposterous 
and unsupported by evidence derived from a single fact 
or analogy in the broad universe, yet it would doubt- 
less absolutely require that spiritual beings should be 
endowed with microscopic vision of an exceedingly 
powerful character, to enable them to act in the most 
subordinate capacities in the realms of nature. 

But, we do think the day is not far distant, when it 
will be generally conceded that all the operations of 
nature are inside the limits of the natural universe, if it 
has any limits, and that any being that has come into 
existence outside, if there can be any such being, can 
by no means get inside, for all that is inside must be 
subject to, and governed by, the universal laws that 
predominate within the boundaries of universal nature. 
There can be no individualized power who can exercise 



420 vision. 

control over, and change and modify eternal laws. We 
see at a glance, it is utterly impossible, because those 
laws are fixed, immutable and uncontrollable. There 
can be no power in this broad universe that can effect 
any change in a single mathematical or geometrical 
proposition, or any other principle or law that is unen- 
acted and comes to us from the eternity of the eternities 
of the past. There could have been no period when the 
laws of the natural universe were established, or enacted, 
and hence there could have been no individualized power 
that brought them into existence, for they are eternal, 
and did exist without beginning; and there can be no 
individualized being, unless he has his being in accord- 
ance with universal law, except he originated and exists 
outside the influence and authority of universal law. Is it 
any more absurd for the materialist to say that all things 
came into existence by chance, without power or law, 
than it is for the religionist to say that a God, possessing 
all power and wisdom, came into existence by chance, 
and without law, and then by this chance wisdom and 
power, produced all law and all things in accordance 
with its provisions? 

We think, then, as we make so little headway in ascer- 
taining what occurred previous to any existence, or out- 
side the boundaries of the natural universe, we had better 
confine our explorations, and keep within its limits, for 
no doubt we shall find sufficient to occupy the attention 
of the most intellectual powers for very many eternal 
ages, without crossing its confines in any direction. 
Doubtless, humanity would have made far more ad- 
vancement, if they had kept nearer home, and not ven- 
tured away so far into the depths of the unknown, in 



vision. 421 

pursuit of knowledge; for, in so doing, they have built 
up huge superstructures that are resting upon mythical 
lore and imaginary foundations, and which will all be 
swept away by time's changes, "like the baseless fabric 
of a vision." We may take our microscopic lenses and 
descend down into the depths of the infinitesimal realms, 
and there by a single glance find more of real truth and 
absolute knowledge, than by an age of research among 
all the ponderous records of beliefs and opinions which 
have been accumulated by all the sects and denomina- 
tions that have existed up to the present. For down in 
the lower regions of organic life, we find absolute, liv- 
ing, breathing facts, and clustering around those facts 
and wonderful phenomena, we find eternal laws and 
principles which lead us to a contemplation of the most 
exalted themes the human mind can by any possibility 
entertain. Our minds seem to be carried directly from 
an examination of the minutest forms of organic life, 
which can only be recognized by the most powerful lenses, 
up to that superior intelligence who must be capable of 
providing himself with an eye possessing almost infinite 
microscopic power, in order perfectly to comprehend the 
delicate workmanship necessary to produce one of those 
living, moving creatures, with all its various organs. 

We shall see that spiritual beings must of necessity 
possess this wonderful ability of changing at will the 
lenses, or the eye, through which they behold all objects, 
in order to be able to discern all things, and to act in 
all the varied capacities, and attend properly to all their 
numerous callings and duties. As an evidence that this 
may be the case, we observe that men in the form may 
do the same thing by using this coarser material that 
36 



422 vision. 

answers our purpose, and produces such marvelous 
changes in the range and comprehension of human 
vision. If we can take this gross matter, and mold it 
into form of lenses that will aid our vision in looking out 
into the sidereal heavens and discovering such marvels 
there, and then down into the lower depths of nature, 
bringing to light wonders of which the human mind 
could have had no conception, then we may well suppose 
that spirits possessing abundance of sublimated materials 
of the same character, must be able to furnish their own 
lenses at will, to suit their several purposes. We need 
not indulge the idea that we are ahead of our spirit 
fathers in any of the arts or sciences, when all we have 
yet attained came to us directly from them. We may 
be assured that whatever we can do of such a character, 
they can also do, in a far more extended and powerful 
manner. 

We have shown in these pages that all matter increases 
in power and activity by sublimation or spiritualization, 
or by division of particles; that steam is more powerful 
and active than water, and electricity superior to steam, 
because the atomic particles are more sublimated and 
finer. Hence it is, that spiritual beings may, from the 
spiritualized or sublimated particles of the same mate- 
rials of which visual lenses are formed to suit the pur- 
poses of physical organisms, and which are used by them 
with great success, — produce those which are so much 
more powerful, because composed of the finer essences 
of the gross matter. The coarser lenses have served the 
purposes of our savans extremely well, and enabled them 
to look out into the unknown regions of space very far 
beyond human vision, and also down deeply into those 



vision. 423 

unseen realms of infinitesimal organic life, what, then 
may we expect of those lenses formed from the sublim- 
ated essences of the same material, refined to the last 
extreme of spiritualization? 

We have endeavored to keep in view the intimate 
relationship that must exist between the material and 
spiritual abodes, and also between the organisms of man 
in this grosser form, and spirits in their higher and more 
sublimated condition. Were it not so, our highest aspi- 
rations formed in this life, could not by any possibility 
be realized in the next. If we were not, in spirit life, 
organized from the same kind of materials that we are 
in this, or materials sublimated and spiritualized out of 
fiuch as compose our organisms here, then the relation- 
ship would cease, and any hope or aspiration formed 
here could not be experienced there, because, we should 
not have the same kind of elements as those in which 
the hopes and aspirations originated. The connection 
betwen the two different conditions would be severed, 
and we should be entirely unable to continue the chain 
of existence, and carry out the great purposes and de- 
signs that have been developing within us up to the pre- 
sent time. 

Hence, we see, in order to make the connection per- 
fect, we must be constituted and organized in spirit life, 
with the same identical elements that we are in this, and 
being so organized, we may experience and realize fully 
the most exalted aspiration that can possibly originate, 
or be developed within us in our present condition. Be- 
cause, the elements of our natures in spirit life, are pre- 
cisely the same, only of a more sublimated character, 
and consequently possessing more activity and power, 



424 vision. 

they must of course be more exquisitely sensitive to all 
emotions and all the varied kinds of enjoyments that 
enter the inner receptivities of spiritual beings. Not 
only the vision is increased in power and activity, by 
being composed of more etherealized materials, but, all 
the senses must be equally enhanced. The taste, smell, 
feeling and hearing, — all, must be as much above ours, 
as would be indicated by the more spiritualized condi- 
tion of that life. 

Spiritual existence, to us, appears, philosophically, 
entirely intangible and quite incomprehensible; because, 
we have, in a normal condition, no eye to behold their 
personalities, nor ear to hear their gentle whispers. We 
cannot feel the pressure of their hands, neither can we 
regale our gross olfactories with the aroma so grateful to 
them, nor taste the ambrosial food that satisfies their 
appetite; and hence, the whole subject of spirit con- 
scious existence is dark and inexplicable. 

But we need take into consideration the great fact 
that all these sensuous organs in us, are adapted precisely 
to our conditions as inhabitants of this earth-sphere; 
they are composed of materials that render them most 
proper and advantageous to us in this form. We see, 
that in order to retain their identity and relationship to 
this state of existence, they must have the very same 
sensuous organs, composed of the sublimated elements 
of the same character, which are precisely adapted to 
that higher condition. We all entertain hopes and 
vearninss that seem to originate somewhere in the 
depths of our natures, and they reach out into the be- 
yond. We know that we can have no realization, in 
this life, of many of the aspirations that we find existing 



vision. 425 

within; for they swell up and outreach all that this 
world can supply. There are wants known to the hu- 
man soul, beyond all the provisions appertaining to 
earth-life, because, earthly things are too gross to supply 
those needs that originate in the finer sensibilities of a 
cultivated mentality. And how can we realize a re- 
sponse to those higher aspirations and the supply of the 
wants of the soul in the future, unless we are provided 
with sensuous organs of higher and more exalted 
powers? 

How can you grasp the hand of your departed friend 
or lover, unless you have a hand that is capable of con- 
veying such sensation to the innermost consciousness, or 
how can you enjoy anything of spirit existence, unless 
you are possessed of such powers as will enable you to 
see, hear, feel, smell and taste all that is provided for 
the gratification of all the diiferent sensuous organs in 
spirit life? We cannot see spiritual beings because our 
organs of vision are too gross to discover the etherealized 
particles of which they are composed, — but, we must 
conclude that they have a vision which enables them to 
behold themselves and all other things existing in their 
sphere, or else it would be a dark place to inhabit, and 
they would certainly have a dreary kind of existence. 
They must also be in possession of all the other senses, 
for it must surely be as great a calamity in that life to 
be deprived of one of their senses, as in this, and we can 
all realize, to some extent, the nature of such depriva- 
tion during our earthly existence. 

It will not be denied that the large portion of our 
earthly enjoyments depends upon the possession of well 
and properly developed sensuous organs. Desolate and 



426 vision. 

unhappy indeed, is the condition of that person, who is 
deprived of the use of any of those organs. Paralysis 
of any of the functions of sensation is next door to death; 
in spirit life it must be the same, for no mind upon the 
earth has yet pictured to his imagination, any idea of 
spirit existence which is not connected with some or all 
of the senses. We are either to see, hear, feel, taste or 
smell something attached to the most exalted concep- 
tions that ever entered the human brain concerning those 
realms, in which we rest our loftiest and sublimest hopes 
and aspirations. We are to wander hand in hand with 
loved ones, over green fields and flower-clad vales, rnhalo 
their aroma and behold their beauties. We are to taste 
the nectar that is gushing from the crystal fountains, 
and murmuring in the playful rills, and feel upon our 
brows the soft breezes of those soul-enchanting hills and 
vales, where none but the purest joys shall be known. 
The old enthusiastic Christian says, there I shall see 
Jesus, feel his fond embrace, hear his voice, and taste 
the sweets of redeeming love, and regale the senses 
upon the aroma rising from his garments, and be satis- 
fied. So, we see, the different classes of human minds 
can have no conception of existence, separate from the 
sensuous organs, and as vision has been presented in 
this chapter, we will confine our attention to that more 
particularly, simply remarking that whatever is said of 
vision, may apply to some extent to all the other senses; 
for, they must all be equally spiritualized, to answer the 
purpose of spirit intelligences existing in the higher 
spheres. 

It will be seen, then, that enlarged or microscopic 
vision, is absolutely necessary, in the spiritual abodes, 



vision. 427 

for all purposes of utility and enjoyment, and, that vision 
must be sufficiently powerful to render their surround- 
ings clearly visible, so that objects will impress them- 
selves clearly upon the retina of the spirit-eye, and that 
impression must come in contact with their consciousness 
precisely the same as with us. If they are composed 
of highly refined particles, they must, in order to under- 
stand themselves, and become acquainted with their 
own physiological construction, be able to scan those 
sublimated particles by the power of vision, and they 
must have an eye correspondingly powerful, for, if they 
cannot see themselves and their surroundings, then they 
cannot know themselves and their conditions, any more 
than humanity could, had they been destitute of the 
physical eye. 

We cannot see light, magnetism, electricity or aura, 
because the particles are too minute to make a visual 
impression; and yet, all those elements are known to 
consist of fluid particles, which are material. Suppose, 
now, those elemental constituents enter into the consti- 
tution of the spiritual form, such form would be entirely 
invisible to us, however tangible and visible it might be 
to an eye composed of corresponding elements. We at 
once discover the superiority of such a physical organi- 
zation, composed of those and still more refined and 
powerful materials, to one formed from matter of a simi- 
lar character, in a more gross and unspiritualized con- 
dition ; and this is substantially the difference between 
organizations in the earth-life, and those in the spiritual 
spheres. One is grosser, the other more sublimated, and 
still more so as they advance from one condition or 
sphere to another, in the same manner as they pass 



428 vision. 

from this to the next, by a dissolution of the grosser 
particles, thus permitting the escape or elimination of 
the more spiritualized body, each time becoming more 
sublimated, and acquiring superior and more exalted 
powers. Each change necessarily brings a still more 
exquisite refinement of every sense and faculty, and of 
course a corresponding enlargement of the powers of 
vision. 

We may now begin to get some inkling of the inex- 
haustible resources of spiritual enjoyment; and of the 
almost infinitely multiplied powers they possess of open- 
ing the gates and avenues to all the storehouses and vast 
reservoirs where knowledge may be found. How little 
comparatively has the man or woman enjoyed in their 
best estate, and how little of themselves and their sur- 
roundings have they learned during the longest life, 
and how many thousand problems which are presented 
to the mind are to them dark and inexplicable? This 
darkness arises from the fact that all our sensuous or- 
gans are formed of gross material, and that all our higher 
faculties, expressing themselves through these, coarse, 
earthly organs must necessarily be limited in their pow- 
ers. Our locomotion is slow and toilsome, our physical 
strength is weakness, our hearing is extremely limited, 
our vision narrow, and unaided, it has but a single 
range, our feeling obtuse, our smelling not equal to the 
dog's, and our unrefined taste permits us to devour 
millions of living animalcule; which if we could see in 
all their ugly proportions would create ineffable disgust. 
There is but one remedy for all these seeming imper- 
fections — one door through which we may escape from 
this groveling condition — and this door is death. There 



vision. 429 

is found the universal gateway that leads to a purifica- 
tion and sublimation of our whole being, that enables 
us to lay aside this cumbrous load of gross particles 
which now chain us to the earth. This change will 
place at our disposal, and give us for our use, those 
etherealized sensuous organs and faculties that will 
bring us into harmony with the great spiritual universe, 
and give us a clear, unclouded vision of things as they 
really exist, because we shall be endowed with a vision 
that may scan the spiritual essential elements, instead 
of the coarse, material, transitional organization, through 
which the spirit expresses itself. How unspiritualized 
and gross in his nature must have been the individual 
mind who conceived the dogma of the resurrection of 
the body, and how darkly sensuous and opaque must be 
the minds of those persons, who, at this more advanced 
age, endorse the same ridiculous doctrine! What do 
they propose to do with the material organs in a spiritual 
condition ? For what purpose can they use this restored 
material eye, ear, tongue, nose, or any nerves of touch 
or feeling? would they bring them in contact with 
spiritual essences? if so, why do not the same organs 
make us realize such contact now? If they are ever to 
require these bodies again, how very foolish to let them 
die and rot, and dissolve, and disperse in gases, to the 
four winds of heaven ! Why have all the trouble of col- 
lecting the materials again and identifying the same 
body for the same spirit? If the union of the two is 
necessary to their enjoyment, why were they dissolved? 
But this dogma is of a piece with all the others that have 
been handed down, as relics of a darker age, from father 
to son, and are still adopted by a large number of people. 



430 vision. 

The light of eternal truth is dawning upon our world, 
and such distorted, incongruous, unphilosophical notions 
will ultimately flee to the dark chambers from whence 
they issued, having had their day. 

The fields existing in this universe, that come within 
the range of human vision, are comparatively extremely 
limited and narrow. We think we look out a great way, 
and behold a vast amount that is wonderful, and the eye 
is never satisfied with seeing new things and objects. 
But when we take into consideration the vast and incon- 
ceivably extended realms in the great domain, that are 
entirely out of reach of the human eye, we may directly 
discover the importance of a vision of greatly augmented 
powers — of one that is not only telescopic and micro- 
scopic, but spiritualized in its character, — and probably 
the latter would embrace the whole, for no doubt a vision 
that can discern spiritual essences would embrace both 
those powers. Science travels out and r-anges over vast 
fields, of thought, and contemplates an endless variety 
of subjects beheld only by the interior or spiritual vision. 
We never saw with the material eye the first problem 
in geometry or any other branch of mathematics. We 
may have seen some problem illustrated in material 
form, as a circle or a triangle, but the problem itself is 
beyond the reach of external human vision. 

We never saw any of the imponderable agents or forces. 
Very many of the primary elements in nature have never 
been beheld, yet science presents us lengthy and very 
learned essays upon all those invisible subjects. New- 
ton did not see the gravity that brought the apple from 
the tree, yet lie ascertained a principle from its effects, 
and thus he discovered the universal law of attraction. 



vision. 431 

The chemist pursues his researches in the dark, as far 
as human vision is concerned — he never saw a chem- 
ical affinity, or one of the gases or essential forces, or 
qualities that exist in .the constituent elements from 
which he produces his combinations. The astronomer 
never saw a single principle which he may have deduced 
from his various observations. The statesman wanders 
out in his studies upon political economy, and dwells in 
the mazes of abstract principles unseen by the human 
eye. The attorney applies principles of law to his sev- 
eral cases, that never came in contact with any of his 
five senses The clergyman roams amidst a labyrinth 
of abstruse ideas, doctrines and opinions. He never 
saw, handled, tasted or smelled one of his weapons of 
offense or defense — not one of the great dogmas that 
he so earnestly presents to his hearers, have been sub- 
jected to any such test. All are based upon an invisible 
foundation, which he accepts by an act of his mentality 
that he terms faith or belief. These invisible, intangible 
ideas or beliefs have poured out such torrents of the 
blood of earth's children, that the soul sickens with the 
horror of its contemplation. 

We have learned that there must be infinite lengths 
beyond, and almost equal depths below, the vision of 
man, and, that with all its power it has only yet discov- 
ered the smallest possible portion of the stupendous 
whole of the illimitable universe, which may be brought 
within the comprehension of our visions, at some day in 
the eternities of the future, when the spiritual eye shall 
be composed of the most sublimated and etherealized 
material that exists in the higher realms. What are all 
the invisible things that compose this overwhelmingly 



432 vision. 

large portion of the universe we inhabit, and which at- 
tract so much of the attention of enlightened humanity? 
What are the invisible elements by which we are sur- 
rounded, and that are so necessary to us in sustaining 
human life? Science answers — they are all composed 
of material, though sublimated particles, and if so, those 
particles must be subject to the higher orders of vision. 
Can there be a division of particles down to that infini- 
tesimal fineness, that shall go beyond the reach of all 
the possibilities of the still increased powers of spirit- 
ualized vision. We are compelled to conclude that 
there must be, somewhere, powers of vision that are 
able to scan material or spiritualized substances re- 
duced to the last extent of divisibility. For, if the 
vision increases in power and extent of range by rising 
one step higher than our materialized condition (and we 
perceive it must be so, else spiritual beings could not see 
themselves, as our vision does not behold them), then, it 
will proportionately increase in power and range by 
taking another step, and so on until it shall be able 
to see all things, for all things must become visible to 
the eye that is constructed of the most spiritualized 
substances. 

And now, we discern this great principle, that, if 
spiritual essences are but the sublimations of grosser 
particles, then all such essences must come within the 
range of spiritual vision, and as all our well-formed 
ideas and conceptions of things must be real things or 
real essences, then it follows that spiritual beings may 
see, and doubtless handle, those things that are merely 
ideal with us, precisely the same as we see and 
handle visible objects here in this material world. If 



vision. 43$ 

electricity and magnetism, light and atmosphere, are 
composed of real particles, then they must be subject 
to the microscopic lenses of spiritual beings, and the 
extent of the magnifying power of their visual lenses 
will depend entirely upontheir refinement, and the com- 
parative exaltation of their condition. We think that 
spirits in the second sphere, can have no more absolute 
knowledge of the power of vision enjoyed in the third 
or fourth, than we have of that possessed by those that 
are in the second sphere, only we know that the inhab- 
itants of the second are entirely beyond the reach of our 
vision, and that theirs must be entirely different and 
more powerful in order to discern themselves and their 
conditions. But, we must conclude that there is a vision 
so exalted and powerful as to discern all of which we 
can have any conception. 

We may now notice, that all ideas, all thoughts, all 
mathematical problems, solved and unsolved, and all 
other conceptions of the human mind, that can make an 
impression upon the walls of our mental organs, are 
really things, for were they not, they would be nothings. 
As the mentality can take no cognizance of nothing, 
unless there is something to make the impression, 
such impression cannot be made upon our mental or- 
ganizations. Hence we learn that individualized ideas, 
and conceptions of the human mind which make an 
inscription upon the walls of our organs, must be real 
entities composed of particles, and must also come within 
the range of possible vision, — and not only so, but that 
these thought-entities must have size, form, extension, 
and color. Why should the individual appear dark and 
murky or bright and sunny, unless the spirit within 
37 



434 vision. 

partakes of those different hues? and why should the 
spirit be tinged by different hues, unless the thoughts 
by which it is permeated are susceptible of the various 
colors? There are many human eyes which seem to 
be so piercing as to detect these peculiar characteristics 
in men and women. 

We may now enquire further in relation to the pos- 
sible extent of magnifying power. It is said that all 
particles are microcosms of the whole; that ie, they con- 
tain all the essential elements within them which are 
contained in the whole,--^that a drop of water, within 
its narrow limits embraces in miniature, all that is con- 
tained in all the waters of the earth. Man, then, being 
a microcosm, must contain all elementary constituents 
found upon our globe, and if so, we may naturally con- 
clude that somewhere there must be visions that can 
behold in man or in the drop of water, all that there is 
in them. In order to do this, they must behold them 
in size equal to the whole of which they are a part, so 
that there must be visions which magnify the drop of 
water to the extent of all the water upon the earth, and 
discover in that drop, all that can be discovered in all 
the waters of the globe. Why not, if one part contains 
within itself all the elements found in the whole ? Again, 
there must of necessity be visions or lenses that will 
reduce the vast ocean to a single drop, or the globe we 
inhabit to the dimensions of a grain of sand, and also 
peer out upon the remotest orb that has come within the 
range of the most powerful telescope, and bring it within 
hailing distance, and hold easy converse with its inhab- 
itants. 

Such is the faintest possible gleam of the ever increas- 



vision. 43& 

ing sensuous powers of spiritual intelligent beings during 
their progressive existence, on to higher and still higher 
conditions in the celestial spheres. It will be discovered 
that spirits cannot only see and handle the sublimated 
particles of light, electricity, magnetism, aura and the 
various gases; but, that by the intensity of their vision, 
and the power of their lenses, these fluid particles may 
be magnified to an indefinite extent, until each separate 
particle shall be as clearly and unmistakably discovered, 
as we see and discern the separate trees in our orchards, 
or the buildings upon our premises. If so, then the 
very thought-particles that line the chambers of our 
mentalities, must be as distinctly visible to advanced 
spirit intelligences, as the flowers that adorn our gar- 
dens, or the apples that hang pendant upon the branches. 
Thenj how short-sighted is man! How narrow the 
limits of human vision ! How feeble and vain our efforts 
in arriving at the real facts by which we are surrounded! 
How deceptive the best evidences we can gather by the 
unaided human eye, in deciding the thousand different 
questions that come up before us for adjudication! All 
is relative, — all is uncertain, — all would be entirely 
different, if only beheld by a different vision. 

Can we suppose, for a moment, the individual with a 
refined and delicate appetite, would relish the morsel he 
eats with so much gusto and satisfaction, if he possessed 
an eye that would magnify a million diameters, and 
reveal to his astonished gaze the hideous crawling 
monsters that make his food their dwelling-place? It 
requires but small power to show us in the vinegar that 
we use at tbe table, unsightly animal organizations, and 
^0 doubt increased powers of vision would render that 



436 vision. 

article extremely unpalatable. So we perceive that thfc 
human eve, deceptive as it may be, is far better for us 
in this gross, rudimental condition, than the intensified 
vision that is adapted to the higher realms. Suppose, 
for instance, we possessed eyes that would increase all 
objects beheld, a million times; those infusoria and ani- 
malcule which exist in almost all that we eat, and in 
the atmosphere we breathe, and the fluids we drink, 
which are but a millionth part of an inch in length or 
breadth, would approximate a whole inch. Who of us 
would like to swallow down whole troops of these crawl- 
ing, hairy monsters with ugly, protruding legs and claws, 
of any such proportions? We are, of course, entirely 
unconscious of the presence of an organized living being, 
that is but l-1000th of an inch in length, much less of 
one that is but 1-1000, 000th. It is said, however, that 
human skill has devised and constructed magnifying 
lenses that increase the object very many million times, 
and this is done from the gross material found here 
upon the earth; that would make the little fellows of 
the size above mentioned, which we are daily devouring 
in such quantities, enormous in length and proportionate 
in breadth — and this only a lens produced from gross 
materials by human ingenuity. 

What then must be the inconceivable power of those 
lenses that may be produced, by using highly sublimated 
materials in their construction, and such as must be in 
common use in the spirit spheres? Suppose, now, you 
could hold a quiet conversation with one of those highly 
endowed spiritual intelligences, during your hour of 
repast. Suppose he should inquire what you were eat- 
ing and drinking with so much npparent relish and 



vision. 437 

enjoymont? You might reply, that this is really a very 
extraordinary entertainment, — I have here served up, 
to gratify my appetite, the richest viands, including all 
the luxuries that the season and the country can afford, 
in the shape of food and drink. But, my dear sir, says 
the spirit, who sees this feast, which is so elaborately 
prepared, through an entirely different eye, which may 
be so intensified as to enlarge all things a billion of 
times, — do not by any means partake of that food or 
those fluids. Why, sir, they are but one mass of animal 
life — all manner of creeping things, reptiles and four- 
footed beasts, are in the food, and in the drink. If you 
could see them as I do, all your refined sensibilities 
would be shocked, and you would be overwhelmed with 
horror and disgust. You would turn away from what 
you consider an excellent repast, with an unparalleled 
nausea and loathing, such as no man has experienced. 

Now, which of these two is the real vision, and which 
discloses the real facts in the case ? Ours, that is nar- 
row and limited in its range, or the one that is more 
powerful, and sees inexpressibly further into the depths 
of the infinitesimal ? It cannot be denied, that micro- 
scopic lenses that enhance objects a million diameters, 
disclose to us real facts, and real organized existences, 
which are entirely beyond the reach of the human eye. 
Through such a lens, the objects must appear a million 
times larger than the human vision could render them 
if it had the power to discern them. We may inquire, 
which is the real, actual size of those organizations, 
and if the size is not entirely regulated and gov- 
erned by the character and quality of the lenses 
through which they are beheld? We must concede that 



438 vision. 

such is the fact, and that the human vision does not 
govern the size of objects any more than any other, and 
as visions differ so extensively, we must conclude that 
all size, as we before remarked, is relative and depends 
entirely upon the character and powers of the vision 
which beholds the object. Here, we unavoidably discover 
the great fact, that a terrible deception has been prac- 
ticed upon the whole human family. Some powers 
entirely superior to ourselves, have placed us in this 
condition where, by the obtuseness and inferiority of our 
sensuous organs, we are but a living lie to ourselves, 
existing in the very midst of a huge delusion, that is 
practiced upon us with impunity, and which, if we could 
behold with our natural visions, would cause us to curse 
the hour of our nativity, and any such continuous exist- 
ence. For, we should see clearly, that in order to sub- 
sist, and continue in these earthly forms, it would be 
absolutely necessary for us to swallow up the life of 
those disgusting organized forms, which are so far be- 
neath us, and which are so repulsive. And most assur- 
edly, if we had the enhanced vision to discern those ugly 
forms, as they really exist in nature, we could not pos- 
sibly submit to the disgusting process. Hence, the 
controlling powers have kindly practiced upon us this 
necessary deception, by giving us a range of vision which 
is only suited to our condition in the earth-sphere, and 
which entirely prevents the discernment of the real facts 
in this case. 

This view of the subject presents another most indu- 
bitable evidence of the continuous progressive existence 
of spirit entities, through all forms of organization, from 
the lowest to the highest, for we turn with loathing from 



vision. 439 

the food that is eagerly devoured, and with great relish, 
by many organized forms of life below us, and look with 
disgust while the animal is devouring the garbage and 
carrion that is thrown into the street. So, those who 
have a spiritualized vision, must look upon us in a simi- 
lar manner, when they behold us pouring down our im- 
mense throats, whole cataracts of fluids teeming with 
infusoria in all their various crawling and wriggling 
forms, and great mountains of solid food, filled with 
regiments of all manner of animal life, existing in* every 
variety of unsymmetrical and repulsive organisms. We 
have learned, then, that it is sometimes best the truth 
should not be told, and that deception is good and bene- 
ficial, and that it is a part of the arrangement, that it 
has a place in the great programme, and that without 
this benevolent deceit which is practiced upon humanity 
in relation to vision, they could not by any means sub- 
sist, for, if they were enabled to see things as they really 
appear to a higher and more perfected vision, they would 
not use the requisite means to prolong their existence. 
Hence, the absolute necessity of deception in this res- 
pect, by providing an imperfect vision, which will not 
permit us to discern the true nature of our surroundings, 
showing us most conclusively that we are only passing 
on the great journey which requires the eternity of eter- 
nities to perform, that in this condition truth and false- 
hood are relative terms, and that " whatever is is right," 
as adapted to the condition in which it exists. 

The upright man that would not tell a falsehood or an 
untruth for his right hand, and that supposes his large 
stock of knowledge is an accumulation of verities, dwells 
in the midst of error and uncertainties ; simply because 



440 VISION. 

of the imperfection of all his sensuous powers. If he 
appeals to any of his five senses, they can neither of 
them tell all the truth, because they cannot come in 
contact with all there is, — they are material, obtuse and 
imperfect, and liable every moment to deceive him in 
regard to, the absolute nature of facts. They may tell 
him a story, but that story is only in accordance with 
their standard, and cannot extend beyond their powers 
of discernment. Ask the eye, of that beyond its reach, 
and it cannot respond to our inquiry. Ask the ear, of 
what it has never heard, and it has no reply to offer; 
and so of the rest of the senses. Hence there never, 
in all this progressive history, will be a time when we 
may arrive at absolute truth, until the sensuous organs 
are composed of the most refined and spiritualized ma- 
terial essences possible, until they may be able to reach 
and penetrate into all the essential truths that exist, and 
discern all facts, and all principles in the most absolute 
manner, and with the most highly perfected sensuous 
organs which may come directly in contact with the very 
soul-essence of all things. 

We now see quite plainly, that such organs cannot be 
perfected so long as there is any chance for improvement, 
and they cannot take cognizance of, and appreciate, all 
of truth, until such perfection is attained. We freely 
express an opinion, that no such condition can be 
reached, — that no such attainments can be realized, for 
in that case the end of existence must surely arrive. 
There could be nothing more beyond; all knowledge 
would be grasped, all hopes and aspirations realized, all 
enjoyments experienced. There would be but one thing 
left for such a being to do, who has traveled the entire 



vision. 441 

length of the road, who has completed his destiny, and 
conquered all things, and that would be, to turn within 
himself, procure his own dissolution, and commence his 
journey anew. However, the human mind can enter- 
tain no conception of the attainment of such a condition, 
during all the eternities of the future. 

We have already observed, that all thoughts which 
may come within the range of scientific research, and 
also, every possible conception which can be brought 
within the contemplation of the most extended philoso- 
phy, must, in order to make an impress upon human or 
spirit mentality, be absolute particled entities, or else 
no such impress could be made by the thoughts or con- 
ceptions. Hence they must, as entities, be recognized 
by the sensuous organs of more etherealized beings. 
We now perceive, that the more progressed the organi- 
zation, the more of real truth it may discover, or the 
nearer to real truth it may arrive, by the use of the 
sensuous organs connected with the varied faculties that 
are their concomitants. For we can arrive at nothing 
through the organs of sense, unless they are enabled to 
make a sensible impression, through the brain nerves, 
upon the mentality. We trust, if we commence at the 
lowest, and range through all the forms of organized 
life, we shall find a continuous progressive development 
in this respect. It will be noticed, that all the lower 
animal organizations seem to be in possession of the five 
senses, and some of them have remarkable developments 
of some particular one of those sensuous organs, as the 
intensified smell of the hound and the piercing glance 
of the eagle would denote. The minute animalcule 
must see, hear, feel, taste and smell, and some one or 



442 vision. 

more, if not all, of these sensuous organs is possessed 
and enjoyed by the whole range, through all the different 
gradations from the lowest up to the highest, and the 
five senses, it must be admitted, are, in them, identical 
with the same senses in man, — there can be no differ- 
ence in kind, only in degree. 

We who live to-day under what we term the broad 
glare and sunlight of the nineteenth century, and enjoy 
the benefits of the discoveries of all the past ages, are 
apt to conclude that our visions and perceptions are 
clear, and that we are admitted into the great realms 
of real truth. But we are willing to concede, that our 
ancestors who saw things so differently, were somewhat 
blind and mystified in their perceptions, narrow in their 
ideas, and, in fact, that they dwelt in the midst of hal- 
lucination and deception, both as regards science and 
religion. Are we quite sure that posterity, a thousand 
years from this, will not discover the same fact in regard 
to ourselves? May they not be ready to conclude of 
this favored age, that its inhabitants dwelt under a 
cloud, and were unable to perceive the truths which may 
be quite familiar to them, and that we also live in a land 
of shadows and deceptions? 

How many unnumbered ages did this mundane sphere 
exist, before any material had become sufficiently refined 
by the processes made use of in the natural realms, to 
produce a living organization with sensuous powers? and 
how many millions of periods since then, before those 
mysterious processes could work over and produce a 
material sufficiently refined to enter into the organiza- 
tion of human beings? and still how many ages have 
passed away before those beings could be endowed with 



vision. 443 

sufficiently refined sensuous perceptive organs, to reflect 
upon the inner consciousness of mind, our present ideas 
and conceptions of truth? Can we suppose the world 
is now finished, and that the present generation have 
acquired all knowledge, or that we have now attained to 
that perception of all things, which shall endure through 
all the coming ages; that we have already worked out 
all the problems for posterity, and, that they will have no 
researches or discoveries to make, but just to live, and 
enjoy the advantages of our acquirements? We need 
not deceive ourselves with any such vain idea. The 
world is evidently in a very unfinished condition, mate- 
rial is constantly undergoing preparation for still more 
refined and spiritualized organizations. The atmosphere 
is being breathed over and over again, the waters of the 
ocean are constantly passing through changes by enter- 
ing into the various organisms, — the carbon, oxygen, 
hydrogen and nitrogen are by constant use becoming 
refined and purified, — the caloric, vapor, electricity and 
magnetism are undergoing the same refining processes. 
Can we not see that when all the constituent elements 
which enter into the organization of man, become more 
spiritualized, they must produce a finer and more 
etherealized being, possessing more powerful sensuous 
organs which will reflect a clearer and more enlarged 
conception of his surroundings upon his consciousness? 
This will certainly bring him more directly in contact 
with the spiritual realms, where causes that have pro- 
duced the effects by which we are surrounded, are more 
easily recognized and comprehended. 

Then, it is by no means marvelous that philosophers 
of the present day, have not entertained a very clear 



444 vision. 

conception of all the causes that have operated in pro- 
ducing the formation of the globe upon which we dwell, 
and that they should be somewhat mystified in relation 
to its physical arrangements; that they should also adopt 
theories which are so very unnatural, and antagonistic 
to well-defined principles pervading the universal 
realms, and, that very eminent scientific men have 
acknowledged the existence of the most active and 
explosive elements known to man, in the interior of our 
globe, in sufficient quantities to blow this whole solar 
system to fragments. It may not be strange, they have 
not discovered that our globe must be a mechanical 
structure, in which, of necessity, must be introduced 
the highest principles of art; that, as a consequence, 
the utmost economy of materials must be practiced; 
that those materials must be so arranged that the struc- 
ture may subserve, to the greatest possible extent, the 
purposes for which it was designed; and, that it must 
also possess, within itself inherent, all the powers and 
capabilities of any other globe or mechanical structure 
of the kind. For if not, it would certainly be inferior 
toothers — it would be a defective structure, reflecting 
little credit upon its builders, and indicate at least, that 
they were deficient in some of the qualifications neces- 
sary in order to build worlds in accordance with the 
most approved plans, or with the highest principles of 
the art. Certainly a lighter, more buoyant structure, 
in the form of a spherical shell, as thin as would be con- 
sistent with the required strength, with a convex and 
concave surface, both enveloped with an atmosphere 
and all the concomitant elements conducive to organized 
life and enjoyment, as a work of art exhibiting mechan- 



vision. 445 

ical skill and ingenuity, would be far superior to a globe 
formed solid, or one filled with raging fire. 

We readily discover, that those who recognized the 
Ptolemaic system of astronomy as being truthful and 
correct, had no perception of the wonderful mechanical 
skill and genius brought to light in the more rational 
system of Copernicus. They did not perceive, that the 
motions of the heavenly bodies were unnatural and im- 
possible, nor the increased beauty, rationality and har- 
mony of all those motions and revolutions as presented 
by the latter system. Neither have the philosophers 
of our time, seen the huge impropriety of making a world 
forty times heavier than is actually necessary, when one 
could have been made that would have subserved more 
than double the purposes, from one-fortieth of the mate- 
rial, and of proportionate weight. We ask if there is 
not as much relative difference in the mechanical genius 
necessary to bring to bear, in the construction of globes 
upon these two different principles, as there is in the 
two different systems of astronomy to which we have 
referred ? 

The one is awkward and clumsy, unsystematic, unduly 
weighty and unnatural, and impresses the mind when 
contemplating its interior, with a sort of dismal gloom, 
if not horror, and engenders a kind of dissatisfaction 
with the projectors and builders of such unmechanical 
structures, while the other is comparatively light, airy 
and pleasant, symmetrical and beautiful. It impresses 
the mind, upon its contemplation, with most agreeable 
and pleasurable emotions in view of the wondrous utility 
and marvelous ingenuity and wisdom displayed in such 
an admirably arranged superstructure; and, we are 
38 



446 vision. 

impelled to entertain the highest respect and veneration 
for the intelligences who could project and bring this 
marvel of perfection into existence in accordance with 
their design. Intelligent minds, with the clearer per- 
ceptive vision, and the purer mechanical taste that must 
prevail in future ages, will be as much shocked and 
pained at our present ideas of the physical formation 
and construction of our globe, as our minds are, at the 
astronomical construction and movements of the heavenly 
bodies, recognized by the Ptolemaic system ; for both are 
equally absurd and unnatural, when contrasted with 
systems and theories that approximate so much nearer 
to harmonious principles. 

We think it will be conceded, that, if the opinions of 
men concerning these and all kindred subjects, have 
been changing in the past, and have kept even pace with 
the advancing intelligence of the age, and the improved 
perceptives of the people, then such must be the case in 
the future; and, that there must be quite as much room 
for change of opinions and theories in the coming time, 
as there has been in the past, and that future genera- 
tions will enjoy very great advantages over the present, 
in arriving at a nearer approximation to truth, not only 
from their clearer perceptions, but from the benefits 
derived from the experiences of their ancestors. It is 
vain, for us to suppose that we have established theories 
which will answer the purpose of posterity, unless they 
have been demonstrated beyond a doubt. Then, no one, 
we trust, will pronounce our idea concerning the physical 
structure of this globe, wild and visionary, until we have 
had the opportunity of exploring every square mile of its 
superficial area, — until the great polar circle that has 



vision. 447 

been so long locked from human research by everlasting 
barriers of ice and cold, shall open her profound secrets 
to the children of men, and, until from actual discovery 
we learn the humiliating fact, that there was no genius 
brought to bear in the construction of our globe, that 
could possibly produce a superstructure in accordance 
with the highest principles of art, — one that would sub- 
serve the purposes for which it must have been designed, 
to the greatest possible extent. 

Until these unfortunate facts shall be absolutely made 
known to the inhabitants of earth, by research and 
demonstration, let us cherish the hope, that our world 
was planned and constructed by the very highest order 
of mechanical skill, and upon principles that can by no 
means be improved or excelled. So, that in the distant 
ages of the future, when we may become somewhat 
familiar with the mechanical genius that has been 
brought to bear in the construction of other globes, we 
may enjoy the proud satisfaction of knowing that ours, 
upon which we had our birth, existence and experience, 
was no whit behind, in point of symmetry, beauty and 
grandeur, any other that may be found in the broad 
universe. For, whatever may be our history in the 
future, we must always entertain an affectionate remem- 
brance and regard for that world which was the home 
of our childhood, and the scene of our more mature 
reflections and experiences. 



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